Wolff hoping for Hamilton contract extension
- Published on 18 Jul 2017 10:41
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Toto Wolff wants triple-world champion Lewis Hamilton to remain with Mercedes for more years to come after the Brit hinted that he could retire at the end of the season. After winning the British Grand Prix on Sunday, the 32-year-old admitted he does not know what frame of mind he will be in when the curtains are drawn on this season.
"I love driving and you could say it's unlikely, but you can't say what frame of mind I will be in at Christmas," he said. "Hopefully, it will be really good. Even getting another championship, it won't be a case of hanging up my gloves. I will always want to get more, even when I do stop. Right now I'm just focused on getting that fourth."
Wolff, executive director of Mercedes, wishes that Hamilton sticks around in the sport and does not retire anytime soon. Hamilton's deal with the team runs out at the end of 2018, but Wolff is hoping to sign an extension long before that.
"This is a very tough championship so we are concentrating on the weekends," he said, "but we are having a really good relationship and talking about the future. Lewis is very much linked to Mercedes, and we love him as a driver, and I think the same for us is valid for him. So we are going to try to find an agreement for the future."
"He's in a very good place and he drives the fastest car at the moment," he said. "We have a contract that goes for one and a half more years and the best dynamic in the team, so all the talk outside has zero relevance for me."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (7)
Login to replyWolfgang
Posts: 313
Yeah Toto, he´s loving you soo much. One call from Ferrari and he´s gone quicker than you can look..
Remember Abu Dhabi 2016, Toto?? He loves the team so much that he deliberately backed Nico into the pack and ignored team-orders..
And for example Austria 2016 where he deliberately kicked of Nicos front wing.. (ah i forgot, he mentioned afterwards "he was in my blindspot". -> That´s so damn ridiculous...)
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Hamilton wanted to win the championship, he had no choice but to back Rosberg up... And Austria was 100% Rosberg's fault
Wolfgang
Posts: 313
I don´t give a fuck if this was his only chance, he lost the championship because of underperforming all year. The fact in that context is that he could´ve easily fucked the teams performance in that way of doing so.
Putting his own dream above the teams performance is something you must never do.
So this explanation is just rubbish and only half of the story.
Austria was 1000% Hamiltons fault. Nico was on track, Lewis was still on track and Lewis pushed into Nico, DELIBERATELY. He knew that this is his only chance to win this GP in that situation thus he kicked of Nicos wing. And i don´t give a shit about the stewards decision in that particular case, because it´s just wrong to punish a driver to drive within the limits of the track without pushing the opponent off the track.
Remember Austin 2015 first lap first corner where Nico was pushed off the track by Lewis? No one even cared about that although he pushed him OFF the track. If Nico had turned into Lewis in that situation as Lewis did with Nico in Austria i bet all i´ve got Nico would´ve been penalised.
Remember Hockenheim 2016 where Nico pushed Verstappen off the track? Nico was penalised as well but in that situation it was correct to penalise him.
So don´t repeat those blind british media sayings from people like Brundle, Kravitz or whoever it might be in that case, they just lack neutrality in that regard.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Take a look at the reply, Hamilton is right up against the white lines on the outside, Rosberg is beyond the apex when he starts to turn
Wolfgang
Posts: 313
I had more looks on the replay than you probably think.
Which rule says a driver has to turn in at a certain point?
Do you remember Austin 2015? Watch the replay and watch where the apex is.. Why didn´t Lewis turn in and why he was never penalised for driving like that?
Do you maybe get the fact that F1 wanted Lewis to be champion last year more than Nico? Do you remember Bernie E.´s words concerning Nico?
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Not saying what Lewis did was perfect, but he made wheel to wheel contact.. Nico destroyed a bit of his car all by himself because he didn't make the corner, Hamilton had to turn, he couldnt just go off track and expect Rosberg to use the line he did
Wolfgang
Posts: 313
No. Lewis destroyed Nicos car, it was Lewis´turn in that made the hit.
There was still enough room for both to make the corner.
AND Lewis could very well go off the track on that spot without loosing too much time. Watch Austin 2015, Japan 2015, Canada 2016 etc etc there had been many more GP´s where Nico drove off the track in order to avoid touching the other car. Not like Lewis did in Austria..
So reflect on that and be objective..