Hamilton unmoved by new Rosberg contract

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Lewis Hamilton is unconcerned by Nico Rosberg's new Mercedes contract, saying he doesn't mind who his team-mate is.

Mercedes announced Rosberg had signed a new two-year contract on Friday morning, keeping the German at the team for a further two years. He and Hamilton have had a number of controversial incidents since Mercedes became the dominant force at the start of 2014, and have collided on multiple occasions this season.

Asked how he feels about Rosberg's new deal, Hamilton replied: "It’s alright.

"I don’t mind who is my team-mate. It’s good for stability in the team.

"It’s good for the team. Not really much else to say – it doesn’t change anything for me."

Having won the last two drivers' championships in battles against Rosberg, when asked if he can see himself winning the next three as team-mates, Hamilton replied: "I don’t know.

"I’m going to work as hard as I can to continue doing what I love, and doing it to the best of my ability. If for the continued years the best of my ability is better than his ability then so be it. But he’s going to continue to drive well and drive hard. He’s no slouch, he’s a great driver, so I’ve just got to make sure I’m at my best."

Hamilton is currently sitting just one point behind Rosberg in the drivers' championship, a gap which has been reduced from 43 points over the past five races.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.