Lewis can stay put to cement his place in history, insists Wolff

MERCEDES have opened contract talks with Lewis Hamilton in an attempt to help him write the most successful story in F1 history.

The Briton will aim to clinch his sixth world championship title in the Mexican Grand Prix today, a feat that would lift him ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio and behind only Michael Schumacher in the list of motor-racing achievement.

To do that Hamilton must outscore team-mate Valtteri Bottas — who crashed heavily in qualifying yesterday — by 14 points or more.

And his quest was boosted late last night after Max Verstappen was stripped of his pole position and handed a three-place grid penalty.

Verstappen was punished for failing to slow under yellow flags following Bottas’ last-corner crash.

The Dutchman’s penalty moves Hamilton up to third on the grid, with Charles Leclerc taking pole position ahead of team-mate Vettel in a Ferrari one-two.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said the team are 90-per-cent confident they will be able to fix Bottas’s machine without incurring any penalties for new parts.

After smashing into the wall at the final corner, Bottas said: ‘My knees hit together — it was quite nasty. It was a nerve thing, so for a few minutes I couldn’t feel my right knee but there is no pain now.’

Mercedes were last night toiling to piece the car back together, but team principal Toto Wolff said he was ‘90-per-cent’ confident they could do so without incurring any penalties.

If so, Bottas will start sixth on the grid. Verstappen, the winner at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the last two years, lost his pole status when false bravado caused him to claim he had not slowed under the double yellow flags waved for Bottas’s crash while he was on his final flying lap.

The stewards called the Dutchman in for an explanation but cleared him of wrongdoing. An angry Hamilton later called on Formula One’s governing body to punish Verstappen and eventually got his wish.

‘It is really important that the FIA are very strict on double yellow flags,’ said Hamilton. ‘There could have been marshals on the track.

‘These volunteers put their lives on the line to make sure drivers are safe on the road and you have got people who are being careless and not abiding by the rules. Max didn’t need to stay flat-out, he had already got pole. The FIA need to be very strict on that.

Meanwhile, Hamilton probably has one giant contract to play for as he guns for titles seven and eight.

Mercedes are desperate to keep hold of him even it means granting a significant rise on his current £40million-a-year salary. His contract runs until the end of next season, as do those of the other top drivers. They are all unwilling to rush into committing their futures beyond then with new regulations due in 2021.

But Wolff revealed: ‘Discussions with Lewis have slowly but surely started. I don’t see this coming to any sort of closure in terms of the 2021 driver line-up any time soon. It will go into next season.’

Ferrari are a potential rival suitor. But in recent weeks Hamilton has spoken of his deep sense of loyalty to Mercedes.

‘This Ferrari thing has maybe been blown out of proportion,’ said Wolff. ‘Lewis has a clear opinion where he sees himself in future and we have always been very loyal to our drivers.

‘But with 2021 everything is different and drivers and teams will be evaluating the options on the table.’