Mercedes keen to keep world champ Hamilton

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton races into the lead during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. AP

Abu Dhabi — After a dream season where they saw both their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg tussle for the world championship with the former winning it, Mercedes revealed that they will be extending their contract with the double world champion.

The Brackley-based squad, which had already wrapped up the Constructors’ title earlier in the season at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, had already renewed a multi-year deal for Rosberg.

And now, they intended to keep Hamilton as a Mercedes driver for a long time to come. Hamilton sealed his second drivers’ title after winning the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday night.

“We have really been on a great journey and the team we have now, with all its stakeholders and Lewis being super involved in that group, we want to keep it together. We have discussed it a couple of times and we started those discussions a couple of months ago, but we agreed to stop for a while and restart after Abu Dhabi,” team principal Toto Wolff revealed at Mercedes Championship Press conference at the Westin Hotel in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes runs until the end of the 2015 season. The team were in negotiations with Hamilton, who severed ties with his management company XIX Entertainment, over the course of the season but put it on ice following the intense title battle between their drivers.

“We had those rumours around one and half months ago but decided again to do it after Abu Dhabi. We are now going to reflect a couple of days, go back to the factory and start those discussions in the next weeks in the spirit like we have had all year,” Wolff added. Wolff said that the team were looking for stability and believes they have the best drivers on the grid.

“It is never easy because it is a decision with consequences for Lewis and for us as a team. Stability is a very crucial ingredient for us at the team and sitting down and discussing the future, it is clear that Lewis feels at home in the team, the car is the most competitive car and so we have ticked two boxes. Equally there is no guarantee and it is never quick in defining all the terms and making it happen,” he said.

“But to put the record straight, we would love to keep Lewis in the team. He’s been an incredible part in the development and the rise of the team and we want to continue with both of them. It’s not a matter of a couple of hours and ticking the boxes, I think it needs proper reflection and discussion,” added Wolff.

james@khaleejtimes.com