Wolff on Hamilton’s renewal: “We are not talking about an ambassador role after his retirement”
Lewis Hamilton's current contract with the Mercedes team will come to an end at the end of the current season. The British driver, along with his manager Toto Wolff, claim that negotiations are already finished and that only details remain, all while rumors were emerging about Hamilton's desire to add an ambassador role to his new contract.
Lewis Hamilton will be 39 years old at the start of the 2024 season, and he has very little time left to win an eighth record-breaking title, which seems more distant than ever due to Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s dominant performance. The seven-time world champion is currently waiting for his lawyers and representatives from Mercedes to finalize the last details of the new contract that will bind him to the German team.
The delay in signing this famous contract has recently sparked a rumor that the British driver would like to include an ambassador role with Mercedes for his post-career.
However, Toto Wolff denied this. We are not discussing an ambassador role after his retirement, and it is not part of the contract negotiations. I believe he still has many years ahead as a driver in this team, and that’s why we are only focusing on sorting out the contract.
More than just legal details to be resolved
On the same wavelength, Lewis Hamilton and his Austrian boss explained in recent weeks that there were no major obstacles to reaching an agreement and that it was now only a matter of resolving the legal aspects.
“I haven’t been involved since the beginning,” said the poleman of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’ve kept myself away from it since the start. I wanted to focus on all the other things I had to do, so the team has been working on it behind the scenes. There are no more negotiations.”
On his part, Toto Wolff assured that he could not yet provide a date for the officialization of this contract. « I don’t want to give you a date because it’s lawyers speaking to lawyers. »
