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Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton signs two-year contract with Mercedes

By Asher Fair

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 08: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 8, 2018 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 08: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 8, 2018 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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Four-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is set to stay with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport through at least the 2020 season after signing a two-year contract.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton became just the third Formula 1 driver to sign a contract that keeps him in the sport beyond the conclusion of the 2018 season on Thursday.

Hamilton, who is in his 12th Formula 1 season and his sixth as a driver for Mercedes, is set to stay with Mercedes through at least the 2020 season after signing a two-year contract worth roughly $100 million. His current contract is a three-year contract worth roughly $150 million that he signed in the 2015 season.

The only other two Formula 1 drivers with contracts that extend beyond the conclusion of the 2018 season are Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Vettel signed a new contract last season to remain with Ferrari through at least the 2020 season, and Verstappen signed a new contract last season to remain with Red Bull Racing through at least the 2020 season as well.

Hamilton signing a new contract to remain with Mercedes was expected. For a few months now, it has been a matter of “when” as opposed to “if”, which is what Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff has been saying all along.

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Hamilton’s new two-year contract puts him in a position to have a chance to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of seven career Formula 1 championships by the time the contract expires.

Hamilton sits in a third place tie on the all-time Formula 1 championships list with four. He is tied with Vettel and he also trails Juan Manuel Fangio, who won five Formula 1 championships.

The 33-year-old won his four Formula 1 championships in the 2008, 2014, 2015 and 2017 seasons, and he has a good chance to win another one this season.

Hamilton’s career Formula 1 pole position total is 76, which is an all-time record, and his career Formula 1 win total is 65, which is second on the all-time wins list behind only the career win total of Schumacher, which is 91.

Next: Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time

Will Lewis Hamilton be able to secure his fifth career Formula 1 championship this season to put himself in a position to potentially tie Michael Schumacher’s championship total of seven by the time his new contract expires following the conclusion of the 2020 season?

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