Yahoo Autos Lewis Hamilton Will Sign a New Deal With Mercedes Soon
Welcome to The Grid, Road &Track's quick roundup of the auto industry and motorsports news you should know this morning.
Lewis Hamilton Will Sign a New Deal With Mercedes Soon
It's hard to believe, but Lewis Hamilton still doesn't have a contract in place with Mercedes Formula 1 for the 2021 season. Team boss Toto Wolff expects that to change fairly soon, though. Citing an interview with an Austrian broadcaster, Autosport reports Wolff as saying the delays have stemmed from the logistics of negotiating over Zoom and "curveballs" thrown to the lawyers from both sides.
"It's how it is with negotiations. You always come from different corners, but that's quite normal."
Hamilton didn't want to negotiate his contract while focusing on his seventh championship campaign, and it's been reported in the past that his new focus on activism and creating positive change is factoring into the negotiations. Still, there's not much time, as pre-season testing in Bahrain is set for mid-March, and the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix to be held on the 28th.
Dealers Want Nissan to Bring Back Xterra
Nissan has left dealers waiting for fresh products for some time now, and with off-roaders more popular than ever—thanks to the Jeep brand and the revival of the Ford Bronco—those retailers are pushing Nissan to get back into the game. Automotive News reports dealers are asking Nissan to bring back the body-on-frame Xterra, which was canceled in 2015 just before the off-roader boom. Nissan is reportedly considering a new Xterra, but hasn't committed to anything just yet, so the truck would be a ways off. The original Xterra was developed on a tiny budget and based on the compact Frontier pickup. Nissan is finally replacing the current-gen Frontier pickup after 17 years in production.
Jenson Button to Race in Extreme E
Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 champ, is an old-school racer, never limiting himself to one discipline, taking drives wherever he can get them. Like Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Button is fielding a team in the upcoming Extreme E off-road series, but unlike them, he's actually going to be driving, too. BBC Sport reports that Button will run the season with a female partner yet to be announced. (All Extreme E teams have a male and female driving pair.) Button will compete against rally legends Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz Sr. and W Series champion Jamie Chadwick in the series.
