Mercedes: No alarm over Lewis Hamilton's lack of 2016 F1 deal

The reigning F1 world champion and his bosses had been expected to finalise a new deal over the winter, having elected to delay talks until after the 2014 campaign was finished.

But progress in agreeing terms has been slow, which has prompted suggestions that things may not be as clear-cut as they had once appeared.

Speaking at the first pre-season test at Jerez, both driver and team said they were not worried about the matter, as Hamilton made clear there was no rush from his side to sort it out.

"I don't really have a particular feeling about it," he said. "I know the team want to sign me, and vice versa.

"It would be good if we got the sticky parts out of the way early on, but I've still got the rest of this year with the team. I'm sure it will get sorted."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has previously said Fernando Alonso is a fallback option if Hamilton does not stay, said that getting the deal done properly was more important that getting it sorted quickly.

"Contract discussions and negotiations need to be done properly," he said.

"The relationship we have with each other is very solid. It's a relationship based on trust and transparency. It's exactly the way we are having those discussions.

"Everybody knows the detail needs to be optimised, but I have no doubt that in the way those discussions are being done, we will eventually come to a point to strike a deal.

"But there is no pressure to make that happen tomorrow. We'd rather it was sooner than later.

"I think you have to trust each other. You could say that if you trust each other then whatever relationship you have will be on solid ground.

"If things don't happen, then they don't happen. But I would be very surprised if it went in a direction we did not anticipate."