Lewis Hamilton has officially extended his stay with Mercedes for 2 more seasons. After a lot of speculation and even more waiting, the 7-time Champion has announced that he is not going anywhere.
With Lewis Hamilton extending his stay at Mercedes for another 2 years, fans have given a mixed reaction to this news. Ever since the 2021 Championship, Lewis Hamilton has been unable to fight for wins against Max Verstappen. So there are fans who believe that Lewis will have another 2 bad seasons in Formula 1.
On the other hand, there are fans who believe that this news will serve as motivation for Mercedes employees to develop a Championship winning car. There is no doubt that the entire team is collectively working towards that. goal.
With this current contract, Lewis Hamilton will be with Mercedes until the end of the 2025 season. Along with him, George Russell has also signed with the team for the same duration. For the next 2 years, Mercedes will not have to worry about their driver lineup.
Toto Wolff will be pleased to hear that Lewis will continue his contribution to the team. Being a 7-time World Champion, the British driver will have a lot of valuable input towards the development and setup of the car. It would be interesting to see how Lewis Hamilton approaches the upcoming seasons.
Will Lewis Hamilton win his 8th Championship?
With this new contract extension, Lewis Hamilton will definitely be looking to break the record set by Michael Schumacher by winning his 8th Championship. Although a 2-year extension may sound short, it might just be enough for Hamilton and the team to get a chance to compete for the Championship.
As it stands, Red Bull looks very strong for the Championship in the coming years. However, Mercedes has been slowly catching up. When Mercedes dominated, Red Bull finally caught up with their performance just before the major regulation change. The German manufacturer will be looking to do the same.
BREAKING: Lewis Hamilton re-signs with Mercedes until 2025!#F1 pic.twitter.com/Vi8jm5gNgD
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 31, 2023
The next major regulation change will take place in 2026. So in 2025, Mercedes should have developed a challenger to race against Red Bull. The team seems to have already shifted their focus to the 2024 season. They have realized that this year’s championship is far out of reach and have decided to focus on next year. Better sooner than later.
His new contract with Mercedes is estimated to be worth around $120 million over the course of the 2 years. This will put him around the same range as his Red Bull rival Max Verstappen. The 2 drivers will be the highest-paid drivers in the history of the sport.
It will be interesting to see what approach Lewis Hamilton has for the next 2 years. We can expect him to become a bit more aggressive to fight for the Championship.