Lewis Hamilton has admitted that it "feels great" to have put contract speculation behind him heading into this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.
The 30-year-old penned a new three-year deal with Mercedes earlier today, in a contract said to be worth in the region of £100m across its duration.
With his old terms due up later this year, it had been suggested that Hamilton may be tempted to move on, although he insists that there was never any question over his commitment to the Brackley-based outfit.
"It feels great to be going into the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, one of my favourite races of the year, with an agreement to stay at Mercedes for another three years," the Briton wrote in his BBC Sport column.
"Re-signing for Mercedes is what I always intended to do - and there was never really a doubt in my mind that I would. The media have been asking me all year why it has taken so long to sort it out, but it doesn't feel that way to me.
"My previous contract did not run out until the end of this season anyway and, although we intended to start talking about a new one in the middle of last year, in the end we did not get around to sitting down until February this year."
Hamilton currently leads teammate Nico Rosberg by 20 points at the top of the Drivers' Championship.
