Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has dismissed suggestions made by Lewis Hamilton that the World Champion might not be in Formula 1 next season.
Hamilton and Mercedes have previously indicated that discussions over a new contract have been placed on the backburner due to the congested nature of the 2020 season.
After winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Sunday Hamilton, who now holds an 85-point lead in the standings, suggested there is “no guarantee” that he will definitely race in 2021.
When those comments were put to Wolff he said: “I guess if he were to decide to step out of Formula 1, which I don’t think is going to happen and I hope is not going to happen, I think we are going to have a pretty frantic driver market out there.
“But I think it’s the moment and the emotions, we are all happy but very tired also. It’s the same for me.”
Wolff has headed Mercedes’ Formula 1 organisation throughout its title-winning phase in the championship and is set to modify his position for 2021.
“I think we [Wolff and Hamilton] go together in a way that we have a symbiosis and it is important where our heart is and our mindset for next year.
“But I’ve said this is my team. I am very proud co-owner with Mercedes and I am not going to go anywhere.
“My role may change in the future and it is something that he has asked and I think nothing is ever secure.
“Like Niki Lauda in the 1970s he could wake up one morning at the track and just say that he is not having fun anymore.
“I think that can happen to anybody. But we want to continue this journey and we are not finished. Lewis and I and the whole team know that we are not finished.
“With me and Mercedes and I it is pretty much clear. It is just down to putting pen on paper at the right moment.
“I was also concentrating on bringing these championships home and it was not right to spend days with lawyers when I am so focused on what is happening on track.
“This is where Lewis and I are very similar. It just didn’t feel right to sit down before those championships are done.
“There will be a moment when the drivers’ championship is decided and we will have a few months before the first race happens in Australia.”
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