JAKARTA - A new contract agreement for Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton has ended speculation about his plans for this season. However, the duration of the one-year contract raises questions about how long the seven-time world champion will last.
All previous deals for the 36-year-old Mercedes racer are more than one year old. However, the shorter contract period gave both parties time to resolve a number of issues.
The debate is likely to continue for months to come, just as the last contract saga was a hot topic over the past year.
"This is an unusual announcement for a team of this class," said former Sky racer and television commentator Martin Brundle as quoted by Reuters.
"Certainly at least one of the parties wants to keep their options open for the future. I suspect it is Mercedes-Benz itself, so they are holding it for this year, and then say they will finish 2022 early."
Favorite Hamilton snatches an eighth world title that no one has ever won and has extended his streak of racing wins to 100 this year but his future remains in the limelight.
Team boss Toto Wolff admits that after Mercedes made the announcement, the British rider, whose contract has expired, has agreed to an extension that will see him enter his ninth season with the factory.
"It is an important contract," said the Austrian. "It's important because this season and how we want to position ourselves from 2022 onwards and how this is thought of."
Lewis Hamilton, he said, needed to decide what his future would be like. "The team needs to decide in the long term what we want to do with the riders."
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