“I’m not nagging on Toto or Paddy to get something done because I have faith
in them and hopefully they have faith in me,” Hamilton added. “I’ve made no
secret to both Paddy and Toto, we have a very good open relationship and
I’ve told them they would be the first to know if I was looking to speak to
anyone else. We talked about having a chat at some stage but I think they’re
quite relaxed as well.”
The team recently extended Nico Rosberg’s contract, with discussions having
been under way for some time. Mercedes seem to be genuinely delighted with
their driver pairing, with any talk of a move for reigning champion
Sebastian Vettel to the team appearing wide of the mark.
More pressing than contract negotiations for Hamilton this weekend is a strong
haul of points to try to overturn his 14-point deficit to Rosberg in the
championship.
Mercedes looked as if they had been on a particularly brutal military training
camp as they arrived in sweltering Budapest. After a serious team bike
accident this week in Vienna, Jock Clear, Hamilton’s senior performance
engineer, cracked three ribs. Hamilton and Rosberg took part last year, but
not this time. The Briton is still nursing some back pain, however, after
his accident in qualifying at Hockenheim last weekend.
Meanwhile, Felipe Massa on Thursday kept up his criticism of Kevin Magnussen
after their first-lap crash at the German Grand Prix. Despite the stewards
never investigating the Dane’s conduct, only the Brazilian’s, Massa still
said he was to blame.
“He was a little bit too aggressive. There were two cars there and he didn’t
have the line to go into the corner so quick because he was on the inside.
“At the end of the day he lost points because of it, it was not just me. For
sure I lost, and it was a big loss, but he also lost.
“Also, I was very cautious. I backed off for Valtteri to go in front, I turned
and went, and in my car it was impossible to know anybody was there [on the
inside]. I couldn’t see, and he was behind.”
The 33-year-old even took aim at the stewards, saying: “How many races has he
[Magnussen] caused problems in the first lap? So you see there is a lot to
improve in even the FIA.”