TOTO WOLFF: NEW AGREEMENT DONE, RUMORS COMPLETELY FALSE

The Mercedes AMG Team announced that the reigning Formula One World Constructors' Champion and the reigning F1 World Drivers' Champion will continue together in 2021. The Mercedes works team and Lewis agreed a new contract which will see one of the sport's most successful ever collaborations continue for a ninth consecutive season.

A significant part of the new agreement builds upon the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that was made last year by Lewis and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsport.

Lewis Hamilton: "I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates. Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track."

"I'm equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I'm proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can't wait to get back on the track in March."

Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal: "We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process."

"Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport."

"Lewis's competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners. The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it."

Toto Wolff at a press conference commented on all kinds of rumors that appeared on this saga.

"We have agreed together that the contract will be one-year. First of all, because in 2022 the regulations will change significantly. We want to see how the situation in the world and in our company will change by this time. In addition, this is due to the fact that the negotiations began too late."

"Because of the busy season, we expected to discuss a contract with Lewis between the two races in Bahrain, but he got sick, so in the end we started negotiations shortly before Christmas. It was important to agree on everything as soon as possible, so we postponed the issue of the 2022 season, focusing on 2021 and will discuss it later this year."

"There remains some uncertainty in the world that can affect how our sport will develop, what our income will be, including from television and sponsors. Daimler and Mercedes are undergoing a transformation towards electric vehicles, which requires investment. Today's financial reality is very different from what it was a few years ago."

"With all this, we all - Lewis, myself and a large group of people in Mercedes, have always perceived this situation in the same way. We never had a disagreement. We realized that we had to sign a contract for 2021, start work, and already during the season - and much earlier than this time, discuss the situation with 2022. I would not like to negotiate a video link between Christmas and the end of January next time."

"Rumors that Lewis wanted to get a share of the team's income or influence the choice of his teammate are completely false. I have no idea where they came from, since this information does not correspond to reality. Lewis has never asked for this in the past eight years. This is an exclusively team decision. The same applies to rumors about the division of income or share in them. We never discussed this."