Hamilton sits at the negotiating table and expresses preference for teammate

Earlier this year Lewis Hamilton signed a contract for only one year with Mercedes and so the seven-time world champion and his team Mercedes will have to renegotiate for next season.

Negotiations started

During the press conference in Austria Hamilton let it be known to Motorsport.com that negotiations have started. "We have indeed started the talks for next year, but other than that I can't say too much about it yet. I can only confirm that the talks have started and that the signals are positive so far."

Who will be Hamilton's teammate?

That Hamilton will drive for Mercedes next year seems as good as certain. Who his teammate will be is a lot less clear. George Russell is frequently mentioned as the replacement for Valtteri Bottas, but Hamilton sees no reason to replace Bottas. "Valtteri is my teammate at the moment. We've both had ups and downs in our careers, but he's a fantastic teammate. I don't immediately see why anything should change.

"Valtteri is the best teammate I've ever had," Hamilton is full of praise for the Finn. "And I'm not just talking about the sporting aspects, but everything that comes with having a teammate. How you work within the team and so on. In that area we work very well together and of course we want to improve that even more."

When Hamilton is asked to say something about Russell anyway, he responds as follows: "About what? He's not my teammate at the moment, so I don't think I need to say anything about that."