Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton has signed a new one-year deal with Mercedes, bringing an end to the speculation over his future with the team.
“The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team is pleased to announce that the reigning Formula One world constructors’ champion and the reigning F1 world drivers’ champion will continue together in 2021,” the team said in a statement.
The British driver had been out of contract since his last deal expired in December.
“We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process,” said team principal Toto Wolff, referring to impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it,” he added.
Hamilton, meanwhile, said he was looking forward to a ninth season with Mercedes.
“Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track,” the 36-year-old said.
“I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue.”
Hamilton will be eyeing an unprecedented eighth world title when the F1 season begins in Bahrain next month. He had equalled Michael Schumacher’s championship record with a seventh title in 2020.
