Lewis Hamilton will stay at Mercedes until at least 2020 after putting pen to paper on a fresh two-year deal, the team said on Thursday. The extension, announced in the build up to Mercedes' home German Grand Prix, comes after a protracted round of negotiations and puts to rest months of speculation surrounding the reigning world champion's future.

The 33-year-old, who would have been out of contract at the end of this season, had never really been expected to drive for a rival team with Mercedes having won both the drivers' and constructors' titles for the last four years in a row. But, there was talk he might walk away from the sport to pursue some of his other growing interests such as music. "This contract extension has basically been a formality since (Mercedes team boss) Toto (Wolff) and I sat down during the winter," said Hamilton in a statement. "So it's good to put pen to paper, announce it and then get on with business as usual."