No Hamilton contract news for 'few more days'

The Malaysian grand prix weekend started and ended without Lewis Hamilton's new Mercedes contract being announced.

The reigning world champion entered the Sepang weekend hinting that a deal is now close, after long and repeatedly protracted negotiations.

A Spanish newspaper even claimed Hamilton's signature is now on the page.

But as the chequered flag waved on Sunday, team boss Toto Wolff told the German broadcaster Sky that Mercedes will now fly out of Malaysia without any contract news being unveiled.

"It will probably take a few more days," he said, "but I'm optimistic.

"We want to stay with the current world champion and he wants to stay with us," added Wolff. "That is clear.

"Contract negotiations drag out sometimes," he explained, "as you go into the details, but it is moving forward."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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