Hours after concluding a new three-year deal with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton says there was never any doubt.

If nothing else, today's official confirmation finally killed off the ludicrous speculation linking the two-time champion with Kimi Raikkonen's seat at Ferrari.

Speaking to reporters in Monaco, shortly after the final i had been dotted and t crossed, Hamilton admitted that he knew the deal would be done and merely took his time in signing it.

"There was never any doubt, honestly," he said. "I was led to believe that the team wanted to continue with me and naturally with the success we've had and the relationship we have, it felt certain.

"That's why I never, ever felt like... I've got to sign on the dotted line now - kind of took my time and didn't feel like I ever had to... kind of... I wasn't being challenged elsewhere by another driver... which was a good thing."

Asked why negotiations took so long, how much money was involved - the media currently quoting all manner of numbers - and whether he has an exit option, the Briton said: "It's all confidential so I can't answer that one. What took long was that... well, we started conversations in February. I took my time. Some weeks I thought about it, some weeks I didn't. I never felt there was a particular rush.

"I had this year when I was still contracted so it wasn't a case where I was studying it every single day. I would kind of go away from it, come back to it, go away from it, come back to it and just took my time really. And it was also the first time I'd ever done it so there was a lot to learn, there was a lot to learn, there was a lot of studying to do, to really understand everything. It was great. I earned my ten percent so I felt great!"

Finally, when it was pointed out that when the new contact ends he will be 33, he smiled. "That's not too... that's pretty young still, hopefully, which I'm grateful for. So, I definitely see me continuing past that."

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