LEWIS HAMILTON is poised to end his Formula One career with Mercedes by signing a new deal imminently.
The Brit will hold more talks with his team bosses now the F1 season is over and following discussions with the Head of Daimler and Mercedes, Dieter Zetche, in Abu Dhabi.
World champion Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes Head of Motorsport Toto Wolff
SunSport reported last week how the 32-year-old was ready to sign a three-year deal worth £120million, making him Britain’s highest paid athlete.
Mercedes Head of Motorsport, Toto Wolff said: “We always said that we wanted to discuss it once the season had come to a close, so we are going to start that discussion now.
“It is pretty obvious that we are the team of choice for Lewis and that Lewis is he driver of choice for us.
“We have fought well this year together and I think he wants to continue for another few years.”
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Hamilton lapped up a end of season party on Sunday
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Hamilton spent Sunday evening celebrating the end of the F1 season at a party hosted by his Mercedes team at the Westin Golf Resort and Spa in Abu Dhabi.
And he will climb back into the cockpit for a final time on Tuesday when he takes part in a tyre test for suppliers Pirelli.
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It is a remarkable difference from 12 months ago where he lost out on the title to his then team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Relationships between himself and the team were strained and he was facing a serve action from Wolff for his actions in the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP after deliberately forcing Rosberg into trouble.
But after Rosberg’s retirement, and a clear-the-air session in Wolff’s kitchen in his home in Switzerland, the Austrian says Hamilton returned for this season in better shape than ever.
Wolff added: “Lewis made it to F1 with great talent, ambition and hard work and, through the five years he has been with us, he has also developed as a human being.
“After the rough ride we had last year, he has come back very strong, very rounded and very secure.
“This is the main difference I have seen and it has made him perform outstandingly in the car.”
Hamilton was second in Abu Dhabi on Sunday while the race was won by his current team mate Valtteri Bottas.
Yet the four-time world champion was still almost 20 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was third.
But Wolff says it would be wrong to read anything into that substantial advantage with regard to next season.
He said: “I’m obviously very pleased with the Abu Dhabi result, but you have to be very careful in interpreting the pace.
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“I just don’t feel like we should be tapping ourselves on the shoulder about how great we were in the last races.
“I would rather stay sceptical and diligent in leaving no stone unturned, and optimising the deficits of the car.
“But at the end of the day it was the quickest car, it was a capricious diva. And we’d like to keep the diva but get rid of her capricious character.”
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