Seven-time world champion Hamilton signed a new one-year contract with Mercedes for the 2021 season back in February and raised questions about his long-term future.
But Hamilton has already said that his future after 2021 doesn’t depend on winning a record-breaking eighth world title this year, nor does it appear that it will be his final season in F1.
Hamilton took part in a tire test with Pirelli at Imola after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix last week, which was carried out on a set of its 18-inch development tires in 2022.
Known for not being a fan of additional testing, Hamilton joked that he “immediately regretted” volunteering when he woke up before the Imola race but felt it was important to help Pirelli with his 2022 tires.
“It was a really great track to test so I enjoyed the day and the weather was good,” said Hamilton.
“Yeah, I think I plan to be here next year and I want to be a part of it and help Pirelli and help them lead to a better product.
“This is something that the drivers, I think everyone, wished for in order to bring more performance tires forward.
“It was therefore important for me to see and assess how the tires are, where the starting point is and what differences exist, what differences I can help with. So from the driver’s point of view, we have more grip. more mechanical grip in our tires, [and] better breakdown.
“I think it was a good test and obviously it was the tires’ first step, but it was definitely not a bad test to start with.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes in the press conference
Photo by: FIA Pool
Taking up his comment on planning to compete in 2022, Hamilton said his plans “can always change” as he is “quite spontaneous” but spoke about how much he was up to the challenge of the title fight in early 2021 enjoyed Max Verstappen.
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He also spoke of the need for further work to improve diversity across motorsport and worked closely with his Mercedes team on projects for the future.
“I’m enjoying this fight we’re having, it’s more exciting, it was even more of a challenge,” said Hamilton.
“As I said, I continue to love working with this team and it’s encouraging to see the steps my team is taking to become more inclusive and diverse.
“I think they already announced today one of the initiatives we have in our organization and we still have a lot to do as a sport. There are still many teams that have remained silent.
“So far there have been a lot of people who have not been particularly accountable and there is still a lot to be done in this sport.
“I know that I have more chances to change that here than not. That’s something I’m getting into.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be here, we’ll see.”
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