(Monza) Lewis Hamilton, seven-time Formula 1 world champion, has extended his contract with the Mercedes team for two years, until the end of the 2025 season, the German manufacturer announced on Thursday.
The announcement, which was slow to arrive, caps months of speculation surrounding the driver’s future in F1. The Briton will continue to team up with compatriot George Russell, who joined the team at the start of 2022 on a “long-term contract”.
“Our story is not over, we are determined to achieve more together and we will not stop until we get there,” Hamilton said in a statement released on the sidelines of the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. in Monza.
“We have never wanted to win so much. We have learned from each success, but also from each failure,” he continued, who finished only 6th in the Drivers’ Championship in 2022, his worst ranking since his debut in the premier class.
After the disappointment of the title lost at the last GP of 2021 against the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Lewis Hamilton experienced last year the very first white season of his career since 2007. It was without a leading position or victory, he who holds the record with 103 units of each, that the Briton completed the 2022 vintage.
In question, a Mercedes which had difficulty adapting to the technical upheaval which came into force at the start of the season. Hamilton has also seen his almost unchallenged domination of recent years undermined by his young teammate George Russell, 25, very consistent in performance, who finished the 2022 season in 4th place.
This season, the seven-time champion is still looking for a first victory against the overpowered Max Verstappen and the incredible return to the forefront of the double Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). Hamilton is currently in 4th place overall.
Arrived in F1 in 2007 with McLaren, Lewis Hamilton, 38, was world champion for the first time with the British team on his debut in 2008 at 23 years old. Since 2013 at Mercedes, he has pushed the limits of his discipline by winning six other world titles, from 2014 to 2020.
