Lewis Hamilton insisted he and Mercedes have unfinished business after they announced a two-year contract extension ahead of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.
George Russell has also extended his contract with Mercedes until the end of 2025, meaning the team is fully locked and loaded until the next significant change in F1 regulations.
Hamilton remains tied with Michael Schumacher on seven world championships after he was denied the 2021 title by ‘human error’ from race director Michael Masi.
“Honestly I couldn’t be happier to be extended with this team,” Hamilton told select members of the press, including Total-Motorsport.com. “We’ve had such an incredible journey together, Mercedes have supported me since I was 13 so it’s been a long trip and we still have unfinished business.
“We’re in this together we’ve got a lot of work to do to get ourselves back to the front, but there’s no place I’d rather be. We’re trying to win more world championships and so the unfinished business is getting us to the back to the top and fighting for championships.
“We’ve been the most successful team in history and the most successful run in the past 10 years or whatever but it’s been a challenge this past year. So I think it just goes back to where we belong and where we operate.”
How did Mercedes convince Hamilton to return?
Despite Hamilton‘s pride at Mercedes have been the best team in F1 for the past decade, their dominance over the sport was brought to a startling halt by the new regulations introduced in 2022.
After winning 15 Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships between 2014 and 2021, the team has only won one race over the past two seasons – George Russell‘s triumph at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP.
However, Hamilton said he’s convinced the team can return to the front of grid especially after James Allison returned to the F1 setup following two years working on INEOS‘ Americas Cup project.
“It’s what you see, it’s not necessarily what someone says,” Hamilton added. “It’s the work that you’re doing, the meetings we’ve been having with all the engineers, with James Allison and the whole group back at the factory.
“It’s just really engaging better than ever before about where we are, mistakes we’ve made, why we made those decisions and why we won’t make them again. And when we come together and given time, we will get to where we need to be.”
