Lewis Hamilton's contract debacle has descended into a fully-fledged saga.

The British superstar remains 'unemployed' having let his previous contract with Mercedes wind down last year.

Now, nearly a month into 2021, there is still no sign of Sir Lewis putting pen to paper.

The rhetoric coming out of both camps is riddled with vagaries with very little being given away about the true nature of the tricky negotiations.

However, Mercedes kingpin Toto Wolff offered some rare insight into the current stat of affairs within the contract wranglings.

Per a report in The Sun, Wolff admitted that the pair argue over Zoom and are giving the lawyers involved in the deal a great deal of work to do.

"The lawyers are working hard," he said.

We don't make life easy for them, of course, when we both argue over Zoom and keep sending curveballs to the lawyers.

"But he's in America now and I'm here in Austria. At some point we will finalise it. It's how it is with negotiations.

"You always come from different corners, but that's quite normal.

"We have a really solid basis in our relationship. We have celebrated great successes together and want to continue doing so in the future.

"But sometimes you have to talk things out in detail, and that took or still takes us some time. But before Bahrain at the latest, you have to sign something at some point."

Wolff has remained calm throughout the saga but the fact that he is willing to wait until the season opening race in Bahrain is concerning.

It suggests that we are still quite a way off any agreement being made.

The most concerning aspect is that there seems to be a number of sticking points such as salary, image rights, bonuses, sponsorships and media days.

One major personal concern for Hamilton will be the debut performance of George Russell, who stepped into the breach after Hamilton was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Russell put in an electric performance at the wheel of the Mercedes, finishing second at the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020.

Wolff, however, has reiterated that he will not use Russell's promising performance as a bargaining chip.

"We never played the George Russell card. He did incredibly well and will one day be in a top car, but our long-standing partnership is not at all about making any threatening gestures.

"We know we want to race together. And now we have to negotiate the contract."

So it seems the drama is set to rumble on as the opening race in march rapidly approaches. 

You have to think that Mercedes and Hamilton will eventually come to an accord but, stranger things have happened.