Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff has described Lewis Ham­ilton as “one of the greats” of F1 and says formal talks regarding a new long-term contract will begin shortly.

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There is now a feeling of superi­ority surrounding Mercedes, that they are by far the dominant force in F1, have the best car and could go on to enjoy a similar period of dom­inance to that of Red Bull, who won four drivers’ and constructors titles between 2010 and 2013.

After Hamilton delivered the Silver Arrows their first F1 title in 57 years, Wolff said one of the first orders of business in the off-season would be to sign the 29-year-old to a new contract, with his current deal due to expire next year.

“The team are on a great jour­ney now and Lewis is a super important member of that group,” Wolff said.

“We want to keep it together and we’ve discussed it (the contract) a couple of times.

“We decided to do it after Abu Dhabi. Now it’s after Abu Dhabi, we will reflect for a couple of days and start those discussions in the next weeks with a good spirit, like we’ve had all year.”

Hamilton’s win in the desert made history for Mercedes, as the marque won their 16th race of the season, one more than Ferrari in 2002 and 2004 and McLaren in 1988.

Wolff said: “Lewis, winning his second title, is one of the greats. We’re not so much into statistics, but winning 16 times, the most that any team has ever done, that is a record that is going to last for a while and is a great achievement.”