Lewis Hamilton puts contract talks on hold to focus on Chinese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton walks in the paddock ahead of the weekend's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 9, 2015. Greg Baker / AFP

SHANGHAI // Lewis Hamilton has agreed a deal in principle to remain at Mercedes-GP beyond this season, but the Formula One world champion is in no hurry to put pen to paper on a new contract, he said ahead of this week’s Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton, 30, moved to Mercedes in 2013 but is out of contract at the end of the season. Talks to extend his stay with the team have become protracted, with his future the subject of much discussion.

“The situation is not really different from the last time I saw you,” Hamilton said when asked about the progress of his contract talks. “There’s still points to be agreed on, it’s just back and forth.”

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After the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 29, he said that a new contract should be finalised in a week. But Hamilton, who is negotiating the deal himself, said he was unable to find time to go through the finer points of a revised deal with the team.

“The last week, I haven’t really been doing too much contract reading,” Hamilton said.

“I don’t really feel particularly rushed. I think we’ve agreed that we want to stay together. I’ve got the rest of the year if I want to take that.”

Some reports have pegged Hamilton’s new deal at more than US$40 million (Dh147m), and when asked whether he would like to be the highest-paid Mercedes employee, earning even more than Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche, he said: “I don’t really know what to say to that. Drivers generally do earn more than that.

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