The British racing star's contact is set to expire at the end of the year, and the six-time world champion has been heavily linked with a move to Ferrari.

They will come face to face when Hamilton, whose contract is due for renewal at the end of the season, returns to work at the Silver Arrows' Northamptonshire factory on Tuesday morning. 

EXCLUSIVE BY JONATHAN McEVOY: F1 bosses are expected to confirm in the next 48 hours that the race in Shanghai will not go ahead due to growing fears over the outbreak.

Although Liberty Media, the sport's owners, left open the possibility of the Chinese GP being rescheduled, the chances of finding a replacement date look remote to non-existent.

Lewis Hamilton fired a warning shot to his rivals, saying he is feeling 'on another level physically and mentally' ahead of the Formula One season. 

Lewis Hamilton has unveiled the new Mercedes he hopes will fire him to a record-equalling seventh Formula One world championship.

Lewis Hamilton has hit back at criticism from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen , calling the Dutchman's comments 'a sign of weakness' after he recently lit the fire ahead of the upcoming season.

INTERVIEW BY JONATHAN SPENCER: Lewis Hamilton heads into the new season as big favourite to claim his seventh world title and draw level with legend Michael Schumacher.

The Chinese Grand Prix could be rescheduled for November as part of a two-day event sandwiched in between the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi races after the original race was postponed.

Sebastian Vettel has fallen ill on the opening day of Formula One testing after posing for group pictures on the starting grid with the other drivers. The four-time champion was due to test Ferrari's new SF1000.

JONATHAN MCEVOY IN BARCELONA: Lewis Hamilton is making Mercedes wait to open contract talks, though he revealed that 'freedom' will be a central demand when negotiations finally start.

Mercedes' reinvention of the steering wheel has been banned just a day after it broke cover. Not that Lewis Hamilton and his boffins will mind because it won't be outlawed until 2021.

JONATHAN SPENCER IN SALZBURG: When we rocked up to the iconic Hangar-7 in a Red Bull themed double-decker party bus, we knew we were in for one special night.

INTERVIEW BY NATHAN SALT: Jenson Button has warned Charles Leclerc that his honeymoon at Ferrari is over and he must now put up a fight with Lewis Hamilton for the title.

The Chinese Grand Prix, which was scheduled for April, has already been cancelled amid growing fears about the virus but F1 chief Chase Carey has announced it is 'all systems go' for Melbourne.

The Dutch driver, heading into his seventh season in Formula One, lost control and spun around, going off the track at turn five. He was unharmed in Thursday morning's session in Barcelona.

It has been reported that Hamilton could pocket around £60million from a new deal with Mercedes but he and Wolff both claimed that they have not yet spoken about figures.

Lewis Hamilton's decision to get out of the car saw a red flag deployed on the session so that the car and the British driver could be retrieved and taken back to the Mercedes garage before action resumed.

Lewis Hamilton has said he needs to figure out his next 'five to 10-year plan' before signing a new contract with Mercedes. Hamilton joined Mercedes from McLaren back in 2013.

JONATHAN MCEVOY: Seven Formula One teams have threatened to take Ferrari and the governing body, the FIA, to court for hushing up a potentially illegal Ferrari engine.

On Wednesday, seven of Formula One's 10 teams published a joint statement expressing surprise and shock at the FIA's confidential agreement with Ferrari.

His comments came as the FIA admitted on Thursday they were not convinced last year's Ferrari was always legal, but took no further action because it was too complex to prove.

Mercedes have reinvented the wheel - for now. Their new DAS system took onlookers by surprise when cockpit cameras showed Lewis Hamilton tugging on his steering wheel.

Here are all the major changes that have happened over the winter ahead of the 2020 Formula One campaign which begins on Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix.

Pre-season testing has left us with more questions than answers as the new F1 campaign prepares to get underway at the Australian GP. Here are the 10 biggest talking points for the new season.

It is understood that the team member reported symptoms associated with the disease in the Albert Park paddock on Wednesday morning.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY JONATHAN MCEVOY: Bernie Ecclestone does not believe Lewis Hamilton should move to Ferrari and he is happy to reel off why. Ecclestone is enjoying a burger in a regular haunt.

Formula One boss Chase Carey has issued a public apology for the last-minute cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix. It was called off 90 minutes before first practice.

EXCLUSIVE BY JONATHAN MCEVOY: Lewis Hamilton's future at Mercedes was cast into doubt when his boss Toto Wolff was absent from a heated conference call intended to save F1.

Formula One will run a series of virtual races, with some current drivers taking part, to replace a string of grands prix postponed by the coronavirus outbreak.

McLaren now have all their employees home from Australia after a period in quarantine following a positive test at the cancelled season-opener in Melbourne.

The boss of the British Grand Prix has told Formula One's owners that he needs to know by the middle of next month whether the showpiece event is going ahead on July 19.

EXCLUSIVE: Bernie Ecclestone is locked down at his coffee farm in Brazil. At 490 acres it is literally the size of Monaco, and, with coronavirus lurking, staff living on site go out a couple at a time to shop.

The rules which would have effectively started a new era for F1 by pushing the reset button were set to come into force for 2021 before the coronavirus pushed their introduction back a year to save costs.

England cricket star Ben Stokes endured a tough time behind the wheel in the second Formula One Essports Virtual Grand Prix.

The reigning Formula One champion is waiting to agree terms over a new contract with Mercedes, with his current £40million-a-year deal expiring at the end of this season.

Carey's salary figure is a guarded secret but it is thought to be several million pounds a year. The London -based company have put half of their 500 F1 staff on furlough this week, it can be revealed.

The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal has joined a growing list of Formula One races postponed due to the new coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, with the 2020 season yet to get on the starting grid.

F1 team Haas have placed the majority of their UK staff on furlough as coronavirus continues to impact on major sports teams. Haas' drivers have also agreed to wage cuts.

JONATHAN McEVOY: The French Grand Prix is about to become the 10th Formula One race, of 22, to be postponed or cancelled owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

So far nine Formula One Grand Prix meetings have been postponed or cancelled with the French GP likely to follow. F1 bosses however hope to start the season in Austria in July.

Sebastian Vettel is feeling the lockdown strain as yet another would-be Formula One race weekend breezes by with drivers still holed up at home. Vettel should be in Shanghai for round-four of the season.

Schumacher is the most successful driver to grace the sport after winning seven world championship titles before retiring in 2012 but Jordan says his legacy is tainted by his single-mindedness.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has bought a stake worth about £37million in Aston Martin, the British sports car company that will return to the Formula One grid as a works team next year.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY JAMES SHARPE: In normal times, George Russell would ready to belt up and take on Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Monegasque was speaking as Formula One bosses devise a rescheduled programme to fit between 15 and 18 races into the second half of the year after the coronavirus hiatus.

The decision to cancel the French GP on June 28 seemed unavoidable after French president Emmanuel Macron placed a ban on mass gatherings in the country until at least mid-July.

Although the 'Silverstone Grand Prix' is a suggested title for this additional event, there is support for naming it after Sir Stirling Moss, who died earlier in April.

Sir Frank Williams, like the rest of the world, was watching on as Ayrton Senna lost control of his car and slammed into barriers at 190mph. Now 26 years on, the heartache still lingers for Williams.

The Hungarian government has said that no event in front of more than 500 people can take place before August 15, with the Grand Prix at the Hungaroring scheduled for August 2.