Whitmarsh says ‘improving car’ takes priority over Hamilton’s contract negotiations

London: McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has said that improving cars at the Formula One club takes priority over Lewis Hamilton’s 100 million pound contract talks and future at the team.

“We’d rather focus on making the car quicker, make sure we don’t make any mistakes, operate well, try to win races and ultimately go for a championship,” a daily quoted Whitmarsh, as saying. Whitmarsh claimed talks could take just one day when they finally start but whatever the timing, Hamilton’s next deal, shepherded through by new management team XIX Entertainment will make the 27-year-old one of the richest racers on the planet. However, Whitmarsh’s desire to get a deal sorted early with Hamilton has been thwarted, while this week there was also rumblings about the finer points of an agreement. “I don’t think things are going to become toxic. I’ve known Lewis a long time. We have a very good understanding and trust of one another,” said Whitmarsh. “I hope and believe that goes both ways. I don’t see doing the deal as big issue. It hasn’t had the intensity of ‘we must get this fixed’ because we are pretty comfortable with each other at the moment,” he added. ANI