Lewis Hamilton has made it clear that he wants to stay at Mercedes for the long term, and says that the team knows that he would like to extend his current contract past its end date of 2015.
Meanwhile the transfer market has kicked into gear with suggestions that Mercedes has sounded out Sebastian Vettel about a seat – which presumably means that Stuttgart can see the four-time World Champion alongside fellow countryman Nico Rosberg in 2016 or beyond, given that Rosberg has already extended his contract.
It’s obvious that any such talk will probably unsettle Hamilton, unless of course he already has a pretty good idea that he might want to go to McLaren-Honda or another top team.
“I’m not worried about it,” said Hamilton when asked about Vettel. “Another German driver, I’m not sure that’s something that Mercedes would like. At the moment I’m hear to the end of next year, so it’s not going to be any time soon. But that’s normal, Mercedes is the best, so everyone is going to want to drive a Mercedes.”
Regarding talks on the future he said: “We haven’t sat down yet, but the team know that I would really like to push to continue. They’ve made it clear that they would like to do the same.
“I’ve been with Mercedes since I was 13, so I very much feel like I have Mercedes imprinted on my chest. It’s very much family for me. You never know what’s going to happen in the future, but I can’t see myself anywhere else. If they happen to want someone else, if that’s the way it is, I’m not going to whinge about it. There’s places for everyone.”
Adam Cooper F1 