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How Hamilton's one-year deal opens up the 2022 driver market

Lewis Hamilton's long-anticipated new Mercedes deal has one standout feature: it is so far only for one year. Although Hamilton may stay with the team longer, Mercedes having no drivers contracted for 2022 should inject further intrigue into silly season...

While the saga surrounding Lewis Hamilton's new Mercedes Formula 1 contract may have dragged out, there was little doubt he would put pen to paper on a new deal.

Yet while Monday's announcement had been expected, there was a surprising element of the contract extension: it would be for just one year, covering the 2021 season only.

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Author Luke Smith

Luke Smith is Autosport’s Formula 1 reporter. Luke has been working in F1 as a journalist since 2013, initially alongside a History degree at University College London. Luke served as the lead F1 writer at American broadcaster NBC Sports from 2013-17 before spending two years as the F1 Editor for Crash.net. Luke joined Autosport for the 2020 season.

Luke is also a contributor to The New York Times for its F1 special reports, and has previously worked with Al Jazeera and CNBC, as well as hosting FIA press conferences. Outside of F1, Luke is a fan of sports and music, with an ever-growing vinyl collection, and has being bitten by the running bug in recent years. He also runs a surprisingly popular blog reviewing the often-terrible media centre coffee from his F1 travels.