Lewis Hamilton is excited to continue his journey with Mercedes and further the work he is doing to make F1 a more diverse and inclusive space after signing a new contract with the team. The Briton will remain with the Silver Arrows until the end of 2023 after an official announcement was made on Saturday . Hamilton, who's previous contract came to an end at the of the 2021 season, says he is as committed as ever which is why he saw so reason to bring an end to his time in the sport. "It's exciting to be continuing," Hamilton told RacingNews365.com and other members of the media. "I think last year and what you're seeing now, we're entering into an interesting phase for me personally because it's not just the racing. "It's what's coming up, the work that we are doing as a sport in terms of trying to make a more diverse and inclusive space. I've been a part of the start of that and I want to continue forward with that. I love working with this team. I feel constantly challenged, I think we've been challenged more than ever this year, which is great. "And I love racing, this is what I was born to do. I still feel fit, I still feel as committed as ever. So I didn't see a reason to stop." Hamilton stated that negotiations for this new deal were much smoother than the previous one, which he requested be for just one year as he was unsure whether he would continue racing given everything that was happening in the world. "It was a lot smoother than it was in December and January," Hamilton added. "I had a lot going on just over Christmas and New Year's, it was a stressful period and naturally we were doing this over Zoom, which is not always the most productive. "When you're having these conversations, I think this [contract] was much easier in that Toto and I spent a lot more time together, face-to-face. I had chosen the past contracts and the one in January was meant to be a two-year deal. It was potentially going to be two-year deal, and I asked for it to be one year because I knew that we'd been through a pandemic and there was so much change in the world. I was unsure whether I'd continue or not, [but we] started off and had the best and most enjoyable start of the year and I'm enjoying the rollercoaster ride that we're having. "The best thing was to be able to get this done before the summer break, which is obviously next month. So now we can just focus on being the best team we can be."
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