Toto Wolff has offered some early insight into a potential new contract being sorted for Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton.

The off-season ahead of the 2021 campaign was dominated by a rather 'will they, won't they' type saga around Hamilton and the Silver Arrows coming to an agreement over a new contract.

Indeed, it wasn't until February that the seven-time champion put pen to paper - massively late compared to normal circumstances - and there has already been indication from both driver and team that this year they want to avoid a repeat and get any extension to his current one-year deal sorted within the current campaign.

That said, team principal Toto Wolff has reaffirmed that fact and also suggested that the next contract that he and Hamilton agree on will be longer than just a solitary year.

"Yes, it should be," Wolff responded when asked whether the next deal would be longer than the current one.

“We don’t want to be in a stressful situation every single year where we are absolutely flat out trying to win races and needing to negotiate. I would rather that doesn’t happen every year.

“We just need to spend a day or two together, put it out there, and decide which are the difficult components.

“We will then lock the door and won’t walk out until it is sorted. That works best for us and it has worked best for us in the past.”

Eyebrows were raised for weeks on end as Hamilton and Mercedes continued to draw out the inking of a new deal and they then stayed raised when it was revealed that the length of the deal was only for a year.

Indeed, that sparked speculation that Hamilton might be tempted to bow out of the sport at the end of the 2021 campaign ahead of the new regulations coming in, but, by the sounds of things, there are currently no plans for such a dramatic walkaway just yet.

In fact, Hamilton looks happier than ever in his Mercedes car and there appears to be a real keenness from all parties to get something a little longer-term sorted ahead of the sport's new era in 2022.

We're sure the rest of the field will be delighted about that...