Lewis Hamilton signs new one-year Mercedes deal for 2021 F1 season

F1

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new deal to stay with Mercedes in Formula 1 for 2021

Lewis Hamilton, 2020 Bahrain GP

Hamilton's new deal is for a single season

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton has re-signed with Mercedes for the 2021 Formula 1 season after months of speculation.

The reigning world champion has agreed a one-year deal with the team, the first time since joining Mercedes an extension has not been for multiple seasons.

Hamilton is the last driver to be confirmed for the 2021 season’s grid after negotiations dragged on from last season to just weeks ahead of the team’s 2021 car launch.

Part of his new deal includes a “joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport”. The team ran a black-liveried W11 in 2020 in a message of anti-racism.

Last season, Hamilton helped Mercedes to a seventh-consecutive title and he captured a record-equalling seventh drivers’ championship himself.

The 35-year-old has achieved six of his world championships with the Silver Arrows and recorded 11 victories on the way to his record-equalling title last year.

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

“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.

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“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.”

Since joining the team in 2013, Hamilton has scored 74 F1 wins to become the most successful driver of all-time, eclipsing the 91-win record left by Michael Schumacher, sitting on 95 race victories heading into 2021.

He has helped Mercedes claim the constructors’ championship every season since the hybrid era began back in 2014, with each triumph part of a title-double. He has failed just once to take the drivers’ title since then, with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg claiming the 2016 crown by five points.

“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,” team principal Toto Wolff said.

“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.”