Lewis Hamilton on course to follow Fernando Alonso's cheeky advice on Mercedes future

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he is close to agreeing a new deal with Mercedes, which is in line with comments from his former teammate Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton's current contract with Mercedes is due to expire at the end of this season, leading to speculations about his future, especially his links with Ferrari. Earlier this week, it was reported that Ferrari's potential bid would match Hamilton's £40m-a-year Mercedes salary and involve a swap, which would see their driver Charles Leclerc moving to Mercedes.

Alonso's cheeky comment

Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, when Aston Martin driver Alonso was asked about Hamilton's future, the Spaniard replied, "He always said he wins and loses together with the team. So if he is not winning, he should stay."

Proving Alonso right, Hamilton rubbished rumours about his possible move to Ferrari by revealing that he is currently in negotiations for a new deal with Mercedes, with whom he had won six F1 drivers' championships.

In an interview, Hamilton opened up on his current situation at Mercedes, saying that he had a team working with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff on the new contract. The British driver also said Mercedes' struggles to be competitive since 2022 "don't have a bearing" on him wanting to stay.

"This is the first time I have not been negotiating myself and I have a great team in the background doing all the work and I can focus on the job. I say what I want and that's what we're working towards. Naturally, when you are in contract negations, there is always going to be speculation and unless you hear it from me, that's what it is. Maybe with the race (in Imola last weekend) being cancelled, they just got bored," said Hamilton.

Hamilton, Russell excited about driving upgraded Mercedes

Adding further, Hamilton said that he was excited about trying the upgraded Mercedes at the Monaco Grand Prix, which would be the first step in a development plan kicked off when Wolff admitted at the opening race of the season that they had made a mistake in pursuing their unique car concept.

The Mercedes design has revised sidepods, floor and front suspension, and it is in a similar vein to that prepared by Red Bull when F1's new rules were announced in 2022. In addition, the design also has similarities to the Aston Martin, which has been the surprise of the season in 2023.

"It will be interesting to see how it works. I don't think we will be fighting for a win but hopefully, we will be more in the fight. We are still a championship-winning team but we have had the wrong car and some decisions that have been made are not ideal," added Hamilton, who is currently tied with Michael Schumacher with seven drivers' titles each.

Hamilton's teammate George Russell stated that Mercedes won't make any conclusions about their upgrade this weekend because of the distinctiveness of the tight and twisty Monaco circuit.

"We are aware this is a very one-of-a-kind circuit and we are not going to read anything into the performance that the new updates show this weekend. There are always outliers in teams who overperform around tracks like Monaco and teams that underperform. But ultimately we don't design a car to be at its peak in Monaco.

"I trust in the team and I don't think there will be anything scary with the upgrade that throws us off-piste. We will treat it as one-of-a-kind and then re-evaluate in Barcelona (the following weekend)," added Russell.

With 96 points after five races, Mercedes are third in the Constructors' Championship, 128 points behind leaders Red Bull. In what has been a big start to the season for Aston Martin, they are in second place with 102 points.

Alonso has bagged four podium finishes out of the five races, all being P3s. As a result, the Spanish star is in third place in the drivers' title race with 75 points. Hamilton, meanwhile, is placed fourth in the table and is just 19 points behind Alonso.