Hamilton will not let possible departure of Wolff stand in the way of signing new contract

Lewis Hamilton will not let the possible departure of team boss Toto Wolff stand in the way of signing an extension with Mercedes.

The six-time world champion, who took pole for the Spanish Grand Prix, only has to thrash out the financial side of the new contract before putting pen to paper.

That may yet involve some serious arm-wrestling, with Hamilton having targeted £40million a year and Wolff wanting to halve that. With coronavirus wreaking havoc on the global economy, not least in the car-making business, there is sensitivity over the eye-popping sums involved.

As for Wolff’s own future, the 48-year-old Austrian said on Friday that he was unsure whether he would continue beyond the end of the year.

Hamilton, 35, is unconcerned by the prospect, saying: ‘What you have to remember is it’s a team and there are 2,000 people so it isn’t down to one individual. Toto’s future doesn’t determine whether I stay. I have grown with this team and the strength is there through and through.

‘Everyone has to do what is best for them, their career and their happiness. It is smart by him. People need to take a moment to evaluate what they do moving forward and whether it suits them, their families and their dreams.

‘We have done so much together in this period of time. I hope he stays because it is fun working with him, fun negotiating with him and fun having the ups and downs, so I am truly grateful to Toto. But I will be supportive in whatever he decides to do.’

Hamilton secured a pole as predictable as death and taxes with his first flying lap, which neither he nor Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas could better at the end of a sticky, 31C session. Bottas remained second quickest, 0.059sec back, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen next, seven-tenths adrift. The Dutchman joked that he has a subscription to third.

Yes, the darn Mercedes are faster than rockets. Indeed, the only impediment so far in the jam-packed season to their total dominance has been the tyre problems they encountered at Silverstone — exploited by Verstappen to take victory in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix last Sunday.

Despite harder compounds being deployed here at the Circuit de Catalunya, the sweltering temperatures forecast for today offer some hope, then, for those who start behind the imperious black cars.

Hamilton said: ‘It is definitely not going to be easy for us. I don’t think we will have the same problems as last week but we will find out at the start of the race.

‘Fingers crossed, but I wouldn’t put it past us having problems tomorrow.’

There was more turbulence for out-of-form, down-on-his-luck Sebastian Vettel, who has been dropped by Ferrari for next season.

The quadruple world champion qualified a miserable 11th, two-thousandths of a second off the pace required for Q3.

Three-times this season he has failed to make it through to the last section of the Saturday action. Charles Leclerc in the other red machine was ninth fastest, so it was hardly the greatest day for the house that Enzo built.

Christian Horner, who as Red Bull team principal orchestrated Vettel’s titles triumphs between 2010 and 2013, said: ‘Sebastian is obviously not in a happy place. If he chose to take a year out, he would still be very attractive to teams should he wish to come back 12 months later.

‘He doesn’t need to be in Formula One for the sake of being there next year. What he has achieved in this sport is quite phenomenal and I am sure he is thinking hard about his next move. He is carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders and that must be very tough for him.’

Brit Lando Norris, just 20, did pretty well again for McLaren, qualifying eighth, a place behind his Ferrari-bound partner Carlos Sainz.