Hamilton: New contract with Mercedes 'almost ready'

Lewis Hamilton says his contract negotiations with Mercedes are in their final stages, with a finalization of a deal expected in the coming weeks.

Hamilton's update on Thursday in Monaco coupled with comments earlier in the day by Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur, who said that no offer for 2024 had been extended to the Briton by the Scuderia, practically put to rest rumors of the seven-time world champion's potential move to Maranello.

Hamilton said that contrary to rumors, there has been no contact between himself and Ferrari or with any representatives of the latter.

"I think naturally, when you're in contract negotiations, there's always going to be speculation," he said.

"I think, ultimately, unless you hear from me, then that's all it is."

Hamilton revealed that for first time in many years, he was not handling personally his contract negotiations with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, having entrusted his interests to his "team".

"My team is working closely behind the scenes with Toto," he said. "We're almost at the end of having a contract ready.

"I'm having a team focused on that, so I can just do my job. That's a much better position than I was in before, because I remember I used to do my negotiations on my own, and it was very stressful.

"So, I don't have to do that anymore."

• Read also: Ferrari sets the record straight: 'No talks with Hamilton!'

Hamilton hasn't been able to score a win in Formula 1 since Jeddah in 2021, with his efforts undermined by the struggles that have befallen Mercedes since it introduced its first next-generation car at the start of the 2021 season.

However, the Briton says the underperformance, while obviously disappointing, has had no consequence on his desire to remain with the Mercedes team.

"It doesn't have a bearing I think, because we're still a championship-winning team," he said.

"It's just we've had the wrong car. There have been some decisions that have been made over the past two years that have not been ideal, and we're working our way through that.

"We have a new upgrade this weekend, the team have worked incredibly hard to bring this upgrade, and we already after Bahrain decided that's what we're going to do.

"I was a little bit gutted when the last race got cancelled, because I was excited to try this new package. And so, whilst here is not the best platform track-wise, to really see those come to fruition, we'll hopefully experience that more next week.

"But, as I said, my team are chatting, having discussions with the [Mercedes] team in the background and we're almost there."

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