Mercedes expect to start contract talks soon with Lewis Hamilton after the seven-times Formula One world champion indicated he intends to race on next season, team boss Toto Wolff said on Saturday.
\nThe sport\u2019s most successful driver is out of contract at the end of this year but at the Portuguese Grand Prix on Thursday Hamilton told reporters: \u201cI plan to be here next year\u201d.
\nHamilton and Mercedes spent much of last year negotiating before they announced a one-year deal in February, with the season starting in March, and Wolff has said they would not leave it so late again.
\n\u201cI think we are in a very good place,\u201d the Austrian said on Saturday.
\n\u201cOur relationship is growing stronger every year and it\u2019s about time to really give it a little nudge and start to speak and this is what we are going to do soon,\u201d he added.
\nWolff answered \u2018no\u2019 to a question about whether negotiations had already started.
\nTeam mate Valtteri Bottas, who qualified on pole for Sunday\u2019s race at the Algarve circuit with Hamilton second, is also out of contract at the end of the year with Mercedes-contracted driver George Russell a possible replacement.
\nThe pair collided at the previous race at Italy\u2019s Imola circuit.
\nAsked what any decision between the two might come down to, Wolff smiled.
\n\u201cI hope one day I wake up and it becomes clear,\u201d he said on a video call.
\n\u201cI think we need to look into the season, how the races unfold and then it is a judgement call, I think. Not a very scientific response but I haven\u2019t got any at the moment.\u201d
\nRussell qualified 11th in Portugal in his Williams team\u2019s best qualifying performance since 2018.
\nThe Briton, a Formula Two champion, showed his potential when he stood in for Hamilton in Bahrain last year and might have won but for team errors and misfortune.
\nRussell led both Friday practice sessions for the Sakhir race, qualified on the front row within a fraction of polesitting Bottas and seized the lead at the start. He also set fastest lap.
\nA Mercedes tyre mix-up, an extra pitstop and then a late puncture after a charge back to second thwarted his bid for victory and he ended up ninth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mercedes expect to start contract talks soon with Lewis Hamilton after the seven-times Formula One world champion indicated he intends to race on next season, team boss Toto Wolff said on Saturday. The sport\u2019s most successful driver is out of contract at the end of this year but at the Portuguese Grand Prix on Thursday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n