MERCEDES chief Toto Wolff is holding off contract talks with Lewis Hamilton amid the coronavirus pandemic and revealed their last negotiations took 10 hours.
The British F1 star dropped a bombshell last month by declaring he could quit the sport.
Hamilton, whose contract expires in December, made the revelation after winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last Sunday.
When asked by Wolff’s own uncertain future, Hamilton replied: “I don’t even know if I’m going to be here next year.”
That took some of the shine off Merc’s celebrations after they won the constructors’ title for a record seventh time.
Wolff has tried to play down talk of Hamilton leaving, but admitted ahead of the last race contract discussions would likely be lengthy based on how long they took last time.
He said: “The last time took 10 hours but then we had it done and we finished the day with pizza.
“So the truth is, like we’ve always said, there’s a lot of trust between us and we keep saying we’ve got to find a day but I think the championship is more important, the drivers championship.
“I completely understand that Lewis and Valtteri [Bottas] want to concentrate on that, and the constructors for us, and it kind of seems that we have to get that done and then find the time to sit down together.
“And I don’t want to contaminate either of the drivers with Covid and if you spend so much time together, you know, the worst thing would be if they miss a race or more.”
Wolff also hinted that Hamilton’s talks may even rumble into next year before the season opener in Melbourne in the middle of March.
But Wolff, who is weighing up a new role as chairman of the Mercedes F1 team, believes he is close to agreeing new terms.
Hamilton and the rest of F1’s stars head to Istanbul next week for the Turkish Grand Prix.
