Mercedes look to extend Hamilton’s deal

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff is to offer Lewis Hamilton a new contract at the end of the year in a bid to keep him at the team beyond 2015.

Hamilton’s current three-year deal expires after next season, with recent speculation suggesting Fernando Alonso is attempting to engineer his way into Mercedes as a replacement.

Wolff, though, has made it clear he has no intention of looking at any driver other than Hamilton as partner to Nico Rosberg for 2016 and beyond.

Wolff’s remarks come in the wake of Mercedes clinching the first constructors’ title in their illustrious history with a ninth one-two of the season in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix. All that remains now is for either Hamilton or Rosberg to wrap up the drivers’ crown, with Hamilton 17 points clear following a ninth win of the campaign.

Addressing the future, and talk of recruiting Alonso, Wolff said: “We have a contract with both our drivers for 2015, and we want to continue with the current line-up.”