A long, drawn-out saga has finally been resolved as Lewis Hamilton will remain at Mercedes; the 36-year-old will look to win a remarkable, record-breaking eighth Drivers’ Championship in 2021. He’ll head into this year as the favourite to achieve that. 

The British icon showed no signs of slowing down last year: he bagged 11 wins, 10 pole positions, 14 podiums and 6 fastest laps. He won the championship by a crushing 124 points from teammate Valtteri Bottas, in spite of missing the first race of his F1 career at the Sakhir Grand Prix following a positive test for COVID-19. 

Hamilton will look to add to his extraordinary stats since he joined Mercedes in 2013 over the coming years. The seven-time World Champion has secured six Drivers’ Championships and seven Constructors’ Championships in his eight seasons with the team. He’s also scored 74 wins, 72 poles and 116 podiums in that time. 

As well as the new one-year deal, Hamilton and Mercedes are also combining by launching a foundation for better diversity and inclusion in Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton 

“I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates. 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.” 

Toto Wolff  

“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. 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. 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.” 

✍️ #AnnounceLewis pic.twitter.com/EFoDLGLDIl

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 8, 2021