Mercedes deny option for longer F1 contract with Lewis Hamilton

With the signing of his new contract, long-term negotiations have come to an end and it is officially certain that seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton will also race for Mercedes in 2021. However, what the future will look like for the two parties after the 2021 season is still unclear, and is not yet clarified by a recent tweet from Mercedes.

The contract with which Hamilton is also assured of a seat in the premier class of motorsport this year is valid for one season. Despite this, it was quickly speculated that Mercedes still has the option to extend the agreements made with Hamilton.

Asked about this, the official Twitter account of the Mercedes F1 team responded as follows: "No, that's not correct, it's a one-year deal, but our focus is on the 2021 season - plans for 2022 will be discussed in due course."

The short duration of the contract came as a surprise to many Formula 1 connoisseurs but maybe a result of the complexity of the negotiations between Toto Wolff and Hamilton. An alternative reason could be related to the many regulatory and technical changes between 2020 and 2022, which require a more flexible attitude from the teams and drivers.