Sir Lewis Hamilton has signed a new one-year contract with Mercedes for the 2021 Formula 1 season.
The news was released in a short Twitter video on Mercedes F1's feed, showing an animated contract with Hamilton and Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff's signatures being scribbled onto the dotted lines.
The seven-time world champion's previous deal lapsed at the end of the 2020 season, but now he will now race for the German manufacturer's team for a ninth season in the elite championship.
Stevenage-born Hamilton had quite a year in 2020, equalling Michael Schumacher's seven world titles and surpassing the German in total race wins, becoming F1's most successful driver of all time.
“I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates,” said Hamilton.
“Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track.
I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I’m proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on the track in March,” Hamilton added.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes F1 said: “Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport. Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners.
We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process,” he continued.
“The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it,” Wolff added.
The 2021 F1 season will give Hamilton a chance at beating Schumacher's long-held title record, with a view to getting his hands on an unprecedented eighth world championship.
The season is due to get underway at Bahrain on March 28, after Australia and China's races were postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 implications.
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Keyword: Sir Lewis Hamilton signs new one-year contract with Mercedes F1