Hamilton's salary increased after contract extension at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton will stay with the Mercedes team for at least another two years, it was announced yesterday. Hamilton has been driving for the team since 2013. According to The Telegraph, the driver will earn around £40 million a year with his new deal.

Due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, there were financial implications for Mercedes' parent company, Daimler. This forced Hamilton to take a pay cut in his final twelve-month contract. It was probably also one of the reasons why last year's contract talks took so long, as it was only announced a few weeks before the start of the new season.

With the new two-year contract, Hamilton goes back to his old salary from before the pandemic. Until 2023 he will earn around 40 million pounds per season. This makes Hamilton the best-paid driver on the field.

Who will sit next to Hamilton at Mercedes is not yet known. Whether this deal will be the last one for Hamilton is uncertain. He already said that he can not imagine that he will race until he is forty years old. When his current contract comes to an end in 2023, Hamilton will be almost 39 years old.