The saga 𝓡over Hamilton’s new contract with Mercedes rumbles on because it remains unsigned even though the driver and his team have always b💃een adamant that it is a formality.

Hamilton was linked with a £40m-per-season d๊eal with Ferrari, but the Italian manufacturer’s former general manager has shot down those claims.

“I can’t imꦓagine Ferrari is attractive to hi🍷m,” . 

“Ob🤡viously he did𒉰 work with Fred Vasseur at ASM in his Formula Three days, and knows him. Fred would have put out the feelers to him.

“But then, if he doesn’t go ౠto Ferrari and all the chaos, where is he going to go? 

“He’s not going to get a Red Bull seat🌟. So he might as well stay where he is.

“I think Lewis is, sort of, talking him💝self into staying at Mercedes, isn’t he?

“You could argue that [after the F1 British Grand Prix], he will get on the plane back and he’ll be thinking look at M⛎cLaren, they’ve turned it around, we can do the same.’

“I’m sure there’s a lo𓆏t of that going on at Mercedes.꧟ 

“I think Lew✨is, with these conversations with Toto Wolff afterwards, was saying ‘McLaren is unbelievably good on fast corners, that’s what we’ve got to do.’

“But it’s one thing to s💞ay ‘we want to be really quick on fast corners’, it’s another to be quick on fast corners! That’s a di൩fferent story.”

Hamilton is seeking the all-time record eighth F1 championship but is now battling against the dominance of Red Bull’s 🥀Max V♕erstappen, who is on course for his third in a row.

They meet again this weekend at the F1 Hunga🐬🍌rian Grand Prix.