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Hamilton wants to commit to Mercedes

BUDAPEST — Lewis Hamilton hopes to have a new contract with Mercedes signed by the end of this season, committing his long-term future to the team.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Photo: Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. Photo: Getty Images

BUDAPEST — Lewis Hamilton hopes to have a new contract with Mercedes signed by the end of this season, committing his long-term future to the team.

Hamilton’s current deal, worth nearly £20 million (S$42.1 million) a year, runs out at the end of 2015. The 29-year-old, who has been the subject of overtures from his former team McLaren, appeared relaxed about his future but eager to eventually put pen to paper, perhaps for the rest of his career.

“I have Mercedes printed on my chest — it’s my home here,” Hamilton said.

“I’m sure something will happen this year but now’s not the time to really focus on that. I’ve made it clear to them that I’m not out to see what else there is for me. Mercedes has been my family since I started F1 and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has already expressed his desire to tie Hamilton down beyond his current contract, given the inevitable interest from other teams.

Hamilton said he had already spoken to Wolff and Paddy Lowe — head of the technical side of the team — stating his interest in signing a new deal.

“I’m not nagging on Toto or Paddy to get something done because I have faith in them and hopefully they have faith in me,” he added.

“I’ve made no secret to both Paddy and Toto, we have a very good open relationship and I’ve told them they would be the first to know if I was looking to speak to anyone else. We talked about having a chat at some stage, but I think they’re quite relaxed as well.”

The team recently extended Nico Rosberg’s contract, with discussions having been under way for some time. Mercedes seem to be genuinely delighted with their driver pairing, with any talk of a move for reigning champion Sebastian Vettel to the team appearing wide of the mark.

More pressing than contract negotiations for Hamilton this weekend is a strong haul of points to try to overturn his 14-point deficit to Rosberg in the championship.

Mercedes looked as if they had been on a particularly brutal military training camp as they arrived in sweltering Budapest.

After a serious team bike accident this week in Vienna, Jock Clear, Hamilton’s senior performance engineer, cracked three ribs. Hamilton and Rosberg took part last year, but not this time. The Briton is still nursing some back pain, however, after his accident in qualifying at Hockenheim last weekend.

Separately, Felipe Massa on Thursday kept up his criticism of Kevin Magnussen after their first-lap crash at the German Grand Prix. Despite the stewards never investigating the Dane’s conduct, only the Brazilian’s, Massa still said he was to blame.

“He was a little bit too aggressive. There were two cars there and he didn’t have the line to go into the corner so quick because he was on the inside.

“At the end of the day he lost points because of it, it was not just me. For sure I lost, and it was a big loss, but he also lost.

“Also, I was very cautious. I backed off for Valtteri (Bottas) to go in front, I turned and went, and in my car it was impossible to know anybody was there (on the inside). I couldn’t see, and he was behind.”

The 33-year-old even took aim at the stewards, saying: “How many races has he (Magnussen) caused problems in the first lap? So you see there is a lot to improve in even the FIA.” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

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