With only a few weeks left before the 2021 season takes off in Bahrain, and Mercedes has yet to secure Hamilton’s seat in the team on a new deal. The contract negotiations started getting pressure from inside and out the paddock after the 2020 Abu Dhabi season finale, but they have yet to bring in consensus from both parts, with some reports claiming the problem is due to the duration of the contract while others state that it is all down to money.

Some rumours confirm that Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, started to question why they need to pay Hamilton 40 million for three years when they can get George Russell, the known star of the Sakhir GP, for a whole lot less.

Some experts consider that Russell’s Sakhir performance, when he substituted Lewis who had contracted the coronavirus, has weakened Hamilton’s negotiating platform.  

But, in spite of all rumours spreading around, Toto Woldd insists he has never, and will never, play the “Russell card” against the seven-time World Champion.

“We never played the George Russell card on him,” he told ORF.

“George did extremely well and will someday sit in a top car but in our long-term partnership (the Hamilton/Mercedes one), it’s not about making any threatening gestures.

“We knew we wanted to drive together and now we just have to negotiate the contract.”

The Mercedes motorsport boss lessened the nature of the negotiations, which have been dragging on for almost a year, at least for the people from the outside. Both parties, Mercedes and Hamilton, were expected to have agreed on a new deal back in March 2020, only for the talks to be postponed due to Covid-19. But that delay continued when the season got underway because of Hamilton saying he wanted to wrap up the title before chatting again with Wolff.

It was said that the next deadline after that was Christmas, with Wolff wanting the deal sorted by then to have a holiday without any type of pressure. A month after Christmas, Mercedes and the team’s fans are still waiting on a resolution.

Toto explained that when a negotiation is on the table, you come from different corners with different opinions and arguments, and that it’s quite normal.

“We have a solid basis in our relationship, we have enjoyed great success and we want to continue that but somethings you have to talk things out and that took us some time or is still going on, but before Bahrain at the latest we have to sign something.”

The Austrian boss says the only deadline they have is the season-opening Bahrain GP. He said: “The lawyers are working hard, of course we don’t make life easy for them when we both keep on discussing like crazy over Zoom and keep sending curveballs to the lawyers.

“But he is now in the USA and I am here and at some point, we will finalize it.”

“We’ll get the fountain pen out one day, but if we don’t see each other it’s difficult to sign something,” he said.