The Mercedes AMG team confirmed that it has reached an agreement with the seven-time F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton, and has renewed their contract to remain together in 2021, for the ninth consecutive season.
An important part of the new agreement builds on the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that Lewis and Mercedes made last year. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have a mission to support greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsports.
After signing, Lewis Hamilton said: “I am excited to face my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates. We have accomplished incredible things together and we look forward to building our success even further, as we continually seek to improve, both on and off the track.
I am equally determined to continue the journey we began to make motorsports more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been very supportive of my call to address this issue. I am proud to say that we are taking that effort further this year, with the launch of a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in sport. I’m inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on track in March, “declared the reigning champion.
Meanwhile Toto Wolff, CEO and team leader, stated: “We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant that it took some time to finish the process. Together, we have decided to extend the sports relationship for another season and begin a longer one to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport.
Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sporting world has ever seen, and he is a valuable ambassador for our brand and our partners. The history of Mercedes and Lewis has been written in the history books of our sport for the last eight seasons, and we are eager to compete and add more chapters, “said the Austrian manager.
Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut with McLaren, a Mercedes engine customer team in 2007 and has been driven in all of his 266 Grands Prix with the German brand’s engines. He joined the official Mercedes team in 2013 and has since won 74 F1 races and six drivers’ championships with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. In 2020, he broke Michael Schumacher’s win record and now holds the all-time race win record in Formula 1.