Lewis Hamilton reveals that he is close to signing a new Mercedes deal

Lewis Hamilton reveals he is close to signing a new deal with Mercedes – as both he and the Ferrari team principal insist they have NOT held talks over £40m deal to race in red next season

• Lewis Hamilton had been linked with a £40m switch to Ferrari next season 
• The seven-time champion though insists he’s close to a new Mercedes deal
• Hamilton and Ferrari’s team principal have insisted that no talks have been held 

Lewis Hamilton has slammed the door shut on a move to Ferrari – committing himself to re-sign for Mercedes.

Mail Sport revealed on Monday that the Scuderia were preparing a £40million bid to sign the world’s most high-profile driver as negotiations dragged on.

Speaking on Thursday in Monaco, the world champion addressed the issue. He said the failures of his current car is not deterring him from penning a new deal which is said to be worth even more than the £40m mark.

He said: ‘My personal team are working closely behind the scenes with Toto and we are almost at the end of having a contract ready.

‘Having a team to focus on that job is a much better position than I was in before. I used to do it all on my own and it was very stressful and I don’t have to do that anymore.

Lewis Hamilton has insisted that he is close to signing a new contract with Mercedes 

Hamilton had been linked with a switch from Mercedes to the red of Ferrari for next season

Charles Leclerc (right) could have potentially moved in the opposite direction if Hamilton (left) were to leave Mercedes after 11 seasons to join Ferrari in 2024

‘The current car does not have a bearing. We are still a championship-winning team and we have just had the wrong car and the decisions that have been made over the past two years have not been ideal and we are working our way through that.

‘We have a new upgrade this weekend. The team have worked incredibly hard to bring this upgrade and after the first race in Bahrain that is what we had decided we were going to do. 

‘Whilst here is not the best platform to see those come to fruition we will hopefully experience that more next week.

‘My team are having discussions with the team in the background, and we are almost there.’

Asked if Ferrari had yet been in touch he said: ‘No.’

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur meanwhile has denied having discussions with Hamilton but said it would be ‘bull****’ to deny that every single team on the grid would like the seven time world champion in their team.  

Asked if he had talked with Hamilton, Vasseur answered: ‘We didn’t have discussions. 

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur denied talks with Hamilton but admitted that every team on the grid would have liked to have Hamilton at some stage during  his career

Hamilton is hoping the upgrades on his Mercedes will push them closer to Red Bull

‘I think every single team on the grid would like to have Hamilton at one stage, it would be bull**** to not say something like this.

‘If I discuss with Hamilton, the last 20 years I discussed almost every single weekend with Hamilton, I don’t want to have to stop to discuss with him because you are chasing me.’

Ferrari’s current drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are both contracted to stay with the team until the end of next season. 

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