Lewis Hamilton Signs 2-Year Extension with Mercedes

The Mercedes F1 team have officially announced that defending champion Lewis Hamilton has signed on for another 2 years, The British driver will be with the German squad for the 2019 and 2020 Formula One seasons.

Ever since he joined Mercedes in 2013, Lewis has won three world championships and 44 Grands Prix. Furthermore, since his F1 debut in 2007, Lewis has driven every Grand Prix with a Mercedes engine strapped to his car.

He has a career total of 65 F1 wins, second only to the legendary Michael Schumacher. Lewis has become the most successful driver in Mercedes’ 112-year Grand Prix racing career.

Lewis Hamilton said, “This contract extension has basically been a formality since Toto and I sat down during the winter, so it’s good to put pen to paper, announce it and then get on with business as usual.”

“I have been part of the Mercedes racing family for 20 years and I have never been happier inside a team than I am right now.”

“We are on the same wavelength both on and off track – and I am looking forward to winning more in the future and shining even more light on the three-pointed star. I’m very confident that Mercedes is the right place to be over the coming years.”

“The competitive passion that burns bright inside me is shared by every single member of this group – always chasing the next improvement and digging even deeper to make sure we come out on top. I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together in the next two-and-a-half seasons.”

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said “We have been aligned with Lewis ever since we first sat down to discuss the details of this contract after last season, but there has understandably been a lot of interest and speculation around the whole process, so it’s good to put all of that to rest and get this thing announced.”

“We signed the final documents this week and didn’t want to keep people waiting any longer! There is not much about Lewis as a Formula One driver that hasn’t been said already – he is one of the all-time greats and his track record speaks for itself.”

“Mercedes has become Lewis’ home in Formula One and his story is linked forever with the silver and green of Mercedes-AMG Petronas. I am very confident that we have some incredible chapters of our story together still to come.”

However, there are no details as to how much the 2-year contract is worth. Earlier, there were reports that he was going for a 3-year deal worth $170 million, but that has now been quashed.