Hamilton dismisses talks of one mln pounds-a-week wages demand as 'biggest piece of rubbish'

Formula One defending champion Lewis Hamilton has dismissed the talks of him asking for one million pounds-a-week wages in his new Mercedes contract as 'the biggest piece of rubbish', while insisting that nothing is going to distract him from winning the title again, including new contract discussions.

Hamilton would begin the defense of his Formula One title with Mercedes with the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Hamilton is yet to sign a contract-extension with Mercedes with his current three-year deal to expire this year.

However, the Briton has claimed in his column for the BBC that nothing is going to distract him from his main aim of winning the title and insisted that that includes discussions about a new contract with Mercedes.

Hamilton claimed that he knows it's been in the news a bit recently, and added that this is a good opportunity to say that a lot of the stuff one might have read in the papers is complete nonsense.

He claimed that he heard about one story that he had been asking for one million pounds-a-week wages, adding that that was the biggest piece of rubbish that has been written for some time.

Hamilton said that he keeps getting asked why it is taking so long, but added that that isn't really the case, insisting that it's just circumstances. He said that the team wanted to have discussions during last season, but added that he preferred to concentrate on the racing.

Hamilton said that they planned to talk about it at the end of the season but added that he had a whirlwind two or three weeks after winning the championship and he simply didn't have a moment to sit there and think about it before he went away for his winter break.

The two-time world champion claimed that they spoke on the phone a little bit while he was away in Colorado but added that it wasn't until he got back to Europe for the start of pre-season testing that he reached out and asked Mercedes to have a chat.

Hamilton claimed that they had a first meeting, then another one, then another, adding that that's what happens when one is negotiating. He said that one also has to bear in mind that this is the first time he has ever done something like this on his own, so it's been a trial-and-error kind of experience for him.

But, Hamilton insisted that there is nothing unusual going on, adding that they are basically there; there's just a few teeny little bits that they would probably iron out over the next few days and he would be hopeful that they would have it sorted.