Lewis Hamilton about to sign a new £ 120m three-year deal with Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton is close to signing a new three-year contract, worth up to £ 40 million ($ 50 million) per season, to continue his historic partnership with Mercedes.

The mail on Sunday understands that the six-time world champion is heading to Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix, where he can match Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins, with a resolution on his future agreed upon in principle.

Ross Brawn, who brought Hamilton to Mercedes and is now F1’s managing director, said: “By all accounts, Mercedes is looking for another deal with him for three more years.”

Lewis Hamilton is close to agreeing to a new three-year deal, worth £ 120 million, with Mercedes

Various sources have indicated that it is only a matter of time before the deal is announced.

Hamilton has made no secret of his desire to stay with the team that has led him to five titles in six years, although Daimler’s management in Stuttgart rejected his initial salary demands. It is now believed that a way has been found to overcome the impasse.

Hamilton will start Sunday’s Great Russian Pix in pole position after a single second from qualifying in only 15th place after his afternoon was threatened by Sebastian Vettel’s accident.

The quadruple world champion’s accident at turn four brought the action to a halt in Q2 with two minutes and 15 seconds to go.

Hamilton had not been able to post a time: the stewards scored his previous lap for exceeding the limits of the track.

He did not hide that he wanted to stay with Mercedes where he has won five titles in six years

With Vettel’s damaged Ferrari retired, the remaining cars lined up in the pit lane. Hamilton was eighth in line ahead of the manic race to beat the clock.

Coming out of the pits, Hamilton ran on cold tires. He was then blocked by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo at the penultimate corner.

Hamilton’s race engineer hurried his pilot.

“I need to go, I need to go, I need to go,” the normally cool Pete Bonnington yelled over the radio and, with just one second left, Hamilton crossed the line to start a new lap. He finished fourth and a crisis was avoided.

A rebooted Hamilton returned in Q3, setting a dazzling record at the Sochi Autodrome to knock out his rivals, finishing more than half a second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and six tenths ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes to secure the pole 96 of his successful career.

“My heart was in my mouth the whole time,” said Hamilton, 35. “It was one of the hardest qualifying sessions I can remember. It was horrible.

Sebastian Vettel’s nasty crash into turn four had caused Saturday’s action to come to a halt

Everything was so rushed. There was panic, all kinds of things happened.

‘I had to calm down, find my center, calm my heart. I wanted to meet in the third trimester. He was convinced that he had no other choice. I had to deliver on those two laps and needed a perfect lap to get pole.

“We are all under immense pressure and I would say that experience helps enormously in knowing how to regain focus.”

It marked another hugely impressive chapter in the Briton’s career, one that will see him hang up his safety helmet as the most decorated driver the sport has ever seen.

Hamilton is now expected to reach the Schumacher milestone on Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin potentially in town to witness a rewriting of the sport’s record books.

The reigning world champion came within a second of qualifying only 15th in Sochi.