Hamilton set to sign £20million-a-year deal

It may have dragged on longer than expected, but Lewis Hamilton is set to sign a new deal with Mercedes this week.

Ahead of the Malaysia Grand Prix it was said that Hamilton and Mercedes had completed their contract negotiations over the 2014 Formula One World Champions new contract.

It was then all down to the lawyers after Hamilton had represented himself during the negotiations after parting company with his XIX Entertainment management team last year.

Hamilton is currently out-of-contract at the end of 2015 and this has prompted numerous approaches from Ferrari according to reports in the media.

However the two-time Formula One World Champion has always insisted that he was happy with Mercedes.

Sky Sports have reported that his new deal will be ‘more lucrative terms than the £20m-a-year he agreed’ when he left McLaren three-years ago.

The BBC have reported more detailed contract figures.

The BBC have quoted a basic salary of £20.9million-a-year, but that includes various bonuses which depending on the number of race victories and potential future Formula One championships could take his earnings to in-excess of £27million.

The deal would see Hamilton on parity with former two-time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso at McLaren Honda and former four-time F1 title holder Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari.

Alonso is reportedly earning £27million-a-year at McLaren, whilst Vettel will earn £33.7million during his first season at Ferrari [his basic wage drops after the first season to £20.4million with potential bonuses boosting his earnings to around the £33.7million mark].