Valencia: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button laughed off reports linking them to other Formula One teams on Thursday and made clear they expected to be staying at McLaren next year.
Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, triggered media speculation that he could move to Red Bull when he was seen talking to that team's boss Christian Horner at the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this month.
Austrian motorsport magazine SportWoche even mocked up a picture of the Briton in Red Bull's blue overalls on its front cover.
"I've a pretty solid contract at the moment but (McLaren team principal) Martin (Whitmarsh) has spoken to us (him and his manager) about discussing a new contract fairly soon, in the coming months," Hamilton told British reporters.
"Definitely, hopefully, by the end of the year, I will have something in place and I can continue on, which is important to be able to do.
"Probably by the end of this year, it's important to have something put in place," added the 26-year-old, who said the Canada incident had been blown hugely out of proportion.
One British Sunday tabloid reported last weekend that Button, the 2009 champion who won in Montreal after roaring from last place to overtake Red Bull's reigning champion Sebastian Vettel on the final lap, was on Ferrari's wanted list.
"Hilarious, because none of it is true," grinned Button, second in the championship but 60 points behind Vettel, at the European Grand Prix.
"We haven't talked about it yet but I have an option for next year with McLaren. That's the way it is. It's the team's option. We haven't sorted it out yet but that doesn't mean anything at all," he added.
"We need to sit down and discuss the future, which is exciting, not too far into the future... but not yet."
Whitmarsh earlier told reporters in a McLaren conference call that the intention was to keep both drivers, who are so far the only ones to beat Vettel this season.
"We'll talk about the future with them when the time comes but at the moment we're not planning on a different driver line-up," he said.
"We are very fortunate to have two great drivers who are great in the team and great with one another."
"Ultimately, Lewis will decide where he's going but I think he enjoys being in this team," said Whitmarsh of a driver who has been part of the McLaren 'family' since he was 13 years old and in go-karts.
"Lewis, as a top driver, will be linked to any team that the media think can afford him or satisfy his expectations. I don't pay too much attention to what's written in the media - in my experience it hasn't been a good guide to what is really happening on driver negotiations."
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