Lewis Hamilton denied he has been offered a contract by Ferrari and expects to sign a new Mercedes deal “in the coming weeks”.
Hamilton’s future in the sport is under the spotlight with just six months to run on his current £40million-a-year deal.
It was reported the build-up to this week’s Monaco Grand Prix that Ferrari are preparing a bid to land Hamilton in a blockbuster transfer.
But when asked on Thursday if the Italian giants had been in touch, Hamilton replied: “No. When you are in contract negotiations there is always going to be speculation, and unless you hear it from me that is all it is.
“My team is working closely behind the scenes with [Mercedes team principal] Toto [Wolff], and we are almost at the end of having a contract ready.
“This is the first time that I have not been negotiating myself. I have a great team in the background that does the work and I focus on the job on hand.
“I say what I want and that is what we are working towards so hopefully in the coming weeks [it will be decided].”
Hamilton, 38, will get his first taste of a major Mercedes upgrade in practice on Friday which the seven-time world champion hopes will haul him up the grid.
Hamilton qualified 13th at the last race in Miami before driving well to finish sixth, but he is already 63 points behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the championship standings.
However, Hamilton insisted Mercedes’ dethroning as kings of the Formula One road will not impact his decision to re-sign with the Brackley side.
“We are still a championship-winning team,” added the British driver. “We have just had the wrong car, and there have been decisions that have been made over the past two years that have not been ideal. We are working our way through that.
“We have a new upgrade this weekend. The team have worked incredibly hard to bring this upgrade to this race after we decided that was the direction we wanted to take.
“Although this is not the best track to see it come to fruition, we will hopefully get a better experience of that at the next race.”
Verstappen clinches sprint victory at Miami Grand Prix, Hamilton hit with penalty
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen claimed victory in the sprint race ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen clinched pole for the sprint in Friday's qualifying session, and capitalised on that effort to finish ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Saturday.
The Dutchman had to see off an early push from Leclerc, but ultimately had too much.
Sergio Perez, Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate, recovered from an early mistake to finish third.
Daniel Ricciardo took fourth, having fended off the challenge of both Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri.
It was a bad drive for Lewis Hamilton, who was penalised for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him from eighth down to 16th.
Red Bull designer Newey 'flattered' by Hamilton interest in Ferrari link-up
Adrian Newey acknowledged Lewis Hamilton's interest in working with him at Ferrari came as a flattering compliment for the outgoing Red Bull designer.
Hamilton will complete his switch to Ferrari next season as the Italian team managed to convince the seven-time world champion to leave Mercedes.
Newey will also be on the move early next year and is free to join a rival team ahead of the 2026 season.
Hamilton said working with Newey would be a "privilege", with one of the best designers in Formula One history at the top of his list of people to work with.
Those comments did not go unnoticed by Newey, who spoke to Sky Sports about a potential link-up with Hamilton ahead of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
"F1 is all-consuming. I've been at it for a long time now," Newey said of his decision to leave Red Bull after joining the team in 2006.
"2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes, through the championship and at the same time, putting all the research into the RB18 [the 2022 car].
"There comes a point where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, 'I'm feeling a little bit tired'.
"It's very kind of Lewis to say that. I'm very flattered. At the moment, it's just take a bit of a break and see what happens next."
Newey's decision to part ways with Red Bull was announced on Wednesday, though the acclaimed designer says it has been on his mind for a while.
"A little while now. I guess over the winter a little bit," Newey said when asked about his intentions to depart.
"Then as events have unfolded this year, I thought, I'm in very lucky position where I don't need to work to live. I work because I enjoy it.
"I just felt now is a good time to step back a bit, take a break and take stock of life.
"Then maybe at some point I will stand in the shower and say 'right, this is going to be the next adventure'.
"But right now, there is no plan."
Verstappen shocked to be on pole for Miami sprint
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen was surprised to claim pole position for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.
Verstappen was 0.108 seconds faster than Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Friday's qualifying session.
That is despite the Dutchman believing his drive had not gone well at all.
"To be honest, it felt really terrible," said Verstappen, who holds a 25-point lead at the top of the F1 drivers' championship.
"Maybe that last session was just incredibly difficult to get the tyres to work. I didn't really improve a lot on the soft but somehow we were first.
"Practice felt really nice, it felt like the car was in a really good window but in qualifying it didn’t feel like that anymore. I was really not happy.
"In Q3 I saw I was only going 0.2secs faster and I was sliding around, no grip and they told me it was P1 and I thought it must be a joke but we'll take it."
Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez qualified third for the sprint, which will take place ahead of the main qualifying session for Sunday's race.
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