Shortly after Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton announced a two-year contract extension ahead of the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton has claimed that they still have unfinished business.
Lewis Hamilton has extended his contract with Mercedes, the team he has represented since 2013, for an additional two seasons up to the end of 2025.
Additionally, his teammate George Russell has also extended his contract with Mercedes to the end of 2025, and the team is now completely prepared for the upcoming major overhaul of Formula One regulations.
Despite being denied the 2021 world championship by race director Michael Masi’s “human error,” Hamilton still shares the record for most world championships with Michael Schumacher at seven.
“Honestly I couldn’t be happier to be extended with this team,” Hamilton said following the announcement. “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.”
While Hamilton is satisfied that Mercedes has been the best team in Formula One for the past ten years, their dominance over the sport was abruptly ended by the new regulations that were implemented last season.
The team won 15 Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships between 2014 and 2021 but only one race in the previous two campaigns, which was won by George Russell at the 2022 Sao Paulo GP.
Hamilton maintained that he is confident the team can regain the top spot on the grid, particularly now that James Allison has rejoined the F1 team after spending the last 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.”
