Lewis Hamilton hopes he can set in stone his near-term F1 future with Mercedes before Christmas, or by the end of next week.
The seven-time world champion and Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff have laid the foundations of a new contract in the past months, with both parties publicly expressing their desire to continue their successful partnership.
But a few details remain to be agreed. Hamilton recently suggested that he would like his future contract to address issues beyond racing such as the German company's push for change in terms of both diversity and sustainability.
"We would love to get it done before Christmas," Hamilton said after Sunday's Abu Dhabi GP.
"I plan to be here next year, I want to be here next year. Us as a team have more to do together, more to achieve in the sport, more outside the sport.
"So I hope we can begin, this week, discussions and get it tied up before Christmas."
Wolff sees no reason for no reason why a new deal with Hamilton "shouldn't happen".
"We will have this conversation," added the Austrian. “We were delayed, we always said that we will do it after the title was won and then the virus delayed us for another 10 days, two weeks.
"And now we just have to sit down, maybe virtually maybe live."
The 2020 F1 season has been a taxing campaign for teams due to the global coronavirus pandemic, with 17 races compressed within a five and a half-month timeframe.
Hamilton, who tested positive for COVID-19 after the Bahrain GP and who was forced to sit out the second round of racing at Sakhir, admitted that 2020 has been one of his hardest season ever in F1.
"This year, for me personally, it’s been one of the hardest years, if not the hardest year," he said.
"We’ve all dealt with isolation, we’ve not been around people, there’s been a great loss of life.
"Life is not normal, I’m grateful that we got to race, and these races can take a lot out of you. I think it’s a great achievement that Formula 1 have got us back racing."
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