The matter of Lewis Hamilton's expiring Mercedes contract could be delayed until after the 2020 season.
Earlier, the six-time world champion indicated that he felt uncomfortable negotiating a new deal for 2021 and beyond amid the covid crisis.
But others suspect that he is waiting to see not only how speculation of a potential team sale pans out, but also what role Toto Wolff will have in the future.
"It is clear that I want to continue with the team, but we can sit down to do that later," Hamilton said. "I am not talking to anyone else."
The German broadcaster RTL claims the matter of Hamilton's contract has been postponed until after the 2020 racing season.
When asked about that, team boss Wolff told Sky Deutschland: "That can happen. We have already done that in the past.
"I love working with Lewis and I think it's mutual. A contract like that requires a lot of detailed work so we want to take our time to look at that."