I’ll sign new mercedes deal, says Lewis
LEWIS HAMILTON has said publicly for the first time that he is prepared to sign a contract extension at Mercedes, confirming
Sportsmail’s revelation that he asked for a new three-year deal. The terms will, however, include break clauses that could allow him to move elsewhere a year earlier. ‘I plan to extend with the team, which we will do at some point in the second half of the season or towards the end of the year,’ said Hamilton, whose decision to re-sign beyond the end of 2018 has been a fait accompli since Sebastian Vettel committed his future to Ferrari last week. Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton added: ‘Toto (Wolff, Mercedes chief) said we will wait until the end of the season. There is no rush. I still have another year. It is good for Sebastian that he has signed there. In the plan I have — with five or six years left in the sport — Seb’s decision is a piece in the puzzle that makes it easier for me to know what I am doing.’ Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso, who retired from the Belgian Grand Prix last weekend, has insisted he would never pull out of a race unless he was forced to do so — a position accepted by his McLaren bosses. The Spaniard cited engine problems in Spa, but Honda’s initial investigations failed to detect any defect. Cynics suggested he had concocted the glitch to spare himself a tough race, but Alonso said: ‘I was surprised when I read that. People forget I have been racing here for three years, giving my maximum, fighting through qualifying. I tried to race with a broken rib in Bahrain last year. I think people are not concentrating on real things that happen.’ Zak Brown, McLaren’s executive director, said: ‘I cannot believe Fernando would pretend he had a problem. That is not the type of man he is. He is a racer. He would never quit.’