Hamilton set for contract talks 'this week'

Lewis Hamilton is finally ready to sit down for talks about his 2021 contract.

The issue has long been delayed this year, but with the season now over and the seven time world champion recovered from covid-19, Hamilton is ready to talk.

"I'm sure we will start talking about the future this week," he said in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

"We had an exchange of emails already in recent days and we said we will talk about it again," Hamilton told Sky Italia.

"I will stay here for the next two days and we hope to be able to conclude the negotiations, also taking advantage of the two weeks before Christmas. It would be a nice gift for everyone."

After qualifying and finishing third in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton admits he was "massively" affected physically by his recent covid-19 illness.

But Red Bull's dominant race winner Max Verstappen said he had also heard that both Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas' engines were "turned down" on Sunday.

"I wonder if Mercedes was giving a small Christmas present to the others," former F1 driver JJ Lehto wondered to Iltalehti newspaper.

Bottas said: "Honestly, I wasn't aware that the engine was turned down."