Lewis Hamilton has promised to “prove” people wrong regarding claims he could retire from Formula 1 after his Mercedes contract expires. The seven-time world champion’s current deal ends at the end of 2023 but the Brit has dismissed the idea that he could retire upon its expiry.
There have been rumors suggesting that Hamilton could quit the sport after his four-year run at the top was ended by Max Verstappen in last season’s championship win for the Dutchman. “That’s what they would do,” Hamilton told Vanity Fair. “I’m built different. I mean, I was built for this. It reminds me that people still don’t know me. Even after all these years. People still don’t know. So, all right, I’ll prove you wrong again.
“I’ll be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about extending [his contract]. I’m still on the mission, I’m still loving driving, I’m still being challenged by it. So I don’t really feel like I have to give it up anytime soon.”
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has already admitted that he has spoken to Hamilton about extending his time with the team. “We talked a few weeks ago about how long a partnership can go and the figure discussed was about five to ten years,” Wolff said. “So I think we can go to 400 [races]. Someone said you have to win the eighth [world title]so why not ten?”
Commentator David Croft claimed that if there is one man to break that record, it would be Hamilton. “I was just going to say he will,” Di Resta replied during Sky Sports’ coverage of the French GP.
“He absolutely will and he will hang about until he does do that. He has not got the car at the moment to win Grands Prix consecutively each weekend, but he deserves to and there’s no point of him slowing [down].
“He is definitely one of the best still in the business and he is quietly sitting there to race the likes of [Max] Verstappen [Charles] Leclerc, as he was last year at the front trying to win that eighth world title.”
