12/05/2015
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton insists that his negotiations with Mercedes are near complete and a new deal will be announced in Monaco.
As early as Malaysia, Hamilton, who is out of contract at the end of the season, was telling reporters that the deal was 99.6% done.
However, as talks dragged on, not helped by the fact that the Briton no longer has a management company working on his behalf and is therefore having to do his own negotiating, albeit aided by a team of lawyers checking every clause of the document, speculation as to the reason for the delay has been rife.
In recent weeks there has been talk of him seeking a deal with Ferrari, though he was eager to deny this.
"That is not the case. It's utter b*******," he told the Independent. "All stories that have come out money-wise are generally b*******."
"You'll see it in Monaco," he subsequently told reporters, referring to his new contract with Mercedes. "I will have some news for you in Monaco."
Predictions as to the length of his new contract and the amount he is to be paid are also rife, though most can probably be summed up in the same way as the Ferrari move. B*******.