As the 2023 season slowly progresses toward its conclusion, Lewis Hamilton edges closer to being a free agent. That’s right, the 7x champion is in the final year of his Mercedes contract. And so far, nothing solid has been announced. One thing is for sure, Hamilton isn’t retiring. Another thing that adds to the spice of it all is the fact that other ‘big’ teams are definitely on the prowl for him. Then what’s taking Toto Wolff so long?

Hamilton and Wolff go back a long, long way. It’s been a decade since the 38-year-old signed his first deal at Mercedes. The then 1x champion then went on to write history with the Silver Arrows and 6 championships later. Here we stand with Hamilton bagging $35,000,000 as his salary.

Toto Wolff reveals the cause for the delay in Lewis Hamilton’s negotiations

First and foremost, Toto Wolff is the team principal of Mercedes and 1/3rd shareholder, too. Naturally, you’d assume his interests lean more toward the team than his driver. But Hamilton is special, and the bond they share is too.

This is precisely what’s stopped the pen from getting to paper. During an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen, Wolff revealed, “We have such a good relationship that we dread the moment we have to talk about money! It’s going to happen soon. I think we’re talking more days than weeks.”

He concluded it by saying, “I get to see him today, we can talk about it.”

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While Hamilton eagerly wants to fight for that elusive 8th world title, he still has a few other things he needs to take care of before signing off on that Mercedes deal.

Hamilton was ready for his final F1 showdown

Mercedes is relatively struggling. And Hamilton only has a few chances left to secure that 8th title. Hence, before signing off on what could be his last ever F1 deal, the Brit has a few scores to settle.

According to the Daily Mail, “Hamilton is closing in on signing a multi-year contract extension. It’s said that Hamilton’s new deal will be worth £50m a year ($63,000,000 approx.), which would trump Max Verstappen‘s yearly salary with Red Bull.” 

Further, “The report also suggests this will be Hamilton’s final contract in F1 as special ‘clauses’ will be included that will see him become a ‘Mercedes ambassador’ once he retires. It means Mercedes won’t have to worry about finding Hamilton’s eventual replacement for a few years still.”

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Can Lewis Hamilton bow out of this sport with 8 world championships to his name?