Mercedes F1 Denies Wanting To Replace Hamilton With Leclerc

Lewis Hamilton, 38, has finally signed a new two-year contract which will keep him at Mercedes until the end of 2025, when he will be 40 years old.

The contract saga has rumbled on all year, during which time the likes of Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris have been mentioned as future Hamilton replacements.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff was asked if he courted other drivers before Hamilton signed on the dotted line, but he replied: “No. I’ve always said that when we renew, I don’t want to flirt outside if I have a good relationship, and only when I see that things are not going in the right direction then I would test the market, but I didn’t do it.

“We already signed in May but we didn’t tell anybody,” Wolff joked.

“Keep a bit of suspense. In all seriousness, we knew that we had an agreement, not only emotionally but on paper many weeks ago but it was just you get lawyers on the case and they find stuff.

“I think it comes from, in a way both sides in this day and age, things change. This is a dynamic environment. Signing a five-year contract means that you need to discuss ‘is there any escape clause in case we are not providing him with a car that is performing’.

"So we didn’t entertain that. We said the foreseeable future is two years and that’s what we are committing to each other.”