Lewis Hamilton makes no mistake about his future in Formula 1, dismissing the reports linking him to a Ferrari move and emphasising his commitment to Mercedes.
It is not uncommon for rumours to emerge at this stage of the season, especially when a driver of Hamilton’s calibre is without a contract for next season.
The early struggles of the Mercedes W14 have surely contributed to the talk about the British driver’s future, with the German squad lacking the pace to contend for a Championship.
Although the Brackley-based team is still near the front, significant changes are taking place to put the W14 on the right development path – as seen with the most recent Monaco updates.
In today’s press conference, the multiple World Champion made clear he is still confident in Mercedes:
“We’re still a Championship-winning team; it’s just we’ve had the wrong car.
“It’s just that some decisions that have been made over the past two years have not been ideal, and we’re working our way through that.
I nuovi sidepods della W14 a Monaco
“We have a new upgrade this weekend. The team have worked incredibly hard to bring this upgrade.
“We already decided after Bahrain that’s what we were going to do, so I was a little bit gutted when the last race got cancelled – because I was excited to try this new package.
“And whilst here is not the best platform track-wise to really see those come to fruition, we will hopefully experience that more next week.
“And otherwise, having discussions with the team in the background, we are almost there.”
Lewis Hamilton has previously expressed his desire to continue with Mercedes, so these recent quotes do not come as a real surprise.
Still, these comments refute the speculation linking him to the Italian Scuderia.
Ferrari is far more concerned with securing a contract extension with Charles Leclerc, though convincing the Monegasque of a new contract will likely require some performance guarantees.
Returning to the situation between Hamilton and Mercedes, it seems a question of when – not if – a new deal will be agreed upon.
Author: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
