SIR LEWIS HAMILTON is stalling over a new deal as he is waiting to see how good his car is, claims Jensen Button.
Mercedes had a difficult season in 2022 with Hamilton failing to win a race for the first time in his career.
The 38-year-old is in the twilight of his career and could decide to retire at the end of the year if Mercedes cannot compete with Red Bull once again.
He has been offered a contract extension which could reportedly see his salary rise by £22million to £62m-a-year.
But Button thinks Hamilton is delaying until he finds out how good his car is.
The 2009 world champion told The Telegraph: “It has to be that, right?”
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“Why otherwise would you leave it this late? He knows how annoying we all are asking [about the contract].
"I mean, we’ve got to ask the question, but he’s going to hate answering it over and over and over again. It can only be because he’s wondering how competitive they will be.
"Is he going to sign if the car is uncompetitive because he wants it to be quick again before he retires?
“Or is he thinking, ‘If it’s not better, I’m just going to retire’. Who knows?”
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Hamilton is confident Mercedes will be able to compete after recording the second-quickest time in testing behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
He remains optimistic despite admitting the team are "not quite where we want to be" ahead of the season opener at Bahrain this weekend.
Hamilton said: "There has been a lot of discovery and the whole team has approached it with the same mentality, working hard, not being complacent and staying focused.
"We're not quite where we want to be but it's a good platform to start from. We don't know where we will be next week, but we will stay positive and continue to push to the maximum."
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