Hamilton and Mercedes to announce new contract this week?

Although expected to happen this week ahead of or during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton has yet to put ink to paper on a new Mercedes contract and speculation continues with regards to the world champion's future plans vis-à-vis a future at some point with Ferrari

BBC quote Hamilton talking about Ferrari and saying, "Anyone who gets that chance, no matter where you are or what car you drive, you look at a Ferrari and think, 'that's pretty cool'. But, like I said, at the moment I'm really happy where I am and I hope Mercedes keep me for even longer."

With a Mercedes-Hamilton deal long ago agreed, the only thing missing is the double world champion's signature. However a question of length of the deal has emerged as a stumbling block and what was once expected to be a five year deal, is now more likely to be a two year plus one contract with Mercedes.

Ferrari meanwhile are keen to lure Hamilton to Maranello, with the Mirror reporting that former boss Marco Mattiacci and, now more recently, Maurizio Arrivabene making contact.

However Hamilton has remained loyal to Mercedes and Toto Wolff by not opening talks with either, despite reports indicating that the new Ferrari F1 boss is prepared to break the bank to get the Briton into a red car.

The reality is that Ferrari, who signed Sebastian Vettel to replace Fernando Alonso, need to replace Kimi Raikkonen rather sooner than later.

"If you ask me now, 'does [Kimi] deserve to renew the option?' I am going to say yes. But if I am going to say yes, I don't want the driver to fall asleep,"said Arrivabene. "I want to keep him awake. Kimi is at his best when he is in a bit in trouble."

"This is a psychological approach. So the paper [the contract] at the moment is white. Sometime I have to take the pen, then take it back," added the Ferrari boss.

Meanwhile the contract impasse has not stopped Hamilton from acquiring a $1.5 million LaFerrari supercar, which prompted Mercedes boss Wolff to say at the time, "For us there is no problem."

Many in the paddock feel that if a deal is not confirmed before or during the weekend in Barcelona, then clearly there is a problem.