Lewis Hamilton refuses to rule out extending Formula One career

‘Still on the mission’: Lewis Hamilton refuses to rule out extending his stay in F1 beyond the end of next season as he chases record EIGHTH world championship title before retirement

The Mercedes driver has endured a tough year and is sixth in the 2022 standings
Hamilton has won seven world championships since his debut 2007 season
‘I’m still loving driving, I’m still being challenged by it,’ Hamilton said
The Englishman is chasing an unrivalled eighth world championship title

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted he has considered extending his stay in Formula One beyond the end of next season.

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‘Still on the mission’: Lewis Hamilton refuses to rule out extending his stay in F1 beyond the end of next season as he chases record EIGHTH world championship title before retirement Share this article

The Mercedes driver has had to make do with fighting to be the best of the rest this season, with his 2021 title rival Max Verstappen seemingly on course to retain his crown.

Hamilton is currently in sixth place in the 2022 driver standings, behind Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton has considered extending his stay in Formula One beyond the end of next year

Hamilton, 37, won six drivers’ championships in seven years between 2014 and 2020 having taken his first title with McLaren in 2008.

Four-time champion and long-time competitor and friend of Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, announced his intention to retire at the end of the current F1 season last month

He signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes last year, tying him to the team until the end of next year.

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With the prospect of an unrivalled eighth championship keeping him going, the British racer told Vanity Fair he is ‘still on the mission’ when asked about his future.

‘I’ll be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about extending,’ he said.

‘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.’

Now one of the veteran drivers on the Formula One grid, Hamilton spoke ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend about also wanting to fight for better diversity in the sport.

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement on the eve of the race but Hamilton, despite being two years older than the German, stopped short of considering stepping back himself.

‘It doesn’t make me think about my future, but it is a reminder that I am in that part of my career that people I came up with and have raced for so long will start to stop,’ he said.

Hamilton won the first of his seven world championships back in 2008 while with McLaren

‘Before you know it Fernando Alonso will not be here, and then who is there after that? I guess I will be the oldest.

‘But I am thinking about how I can improve this car, what steps we need to take to get this team winning again, what is the road map to claiming another world championship, and what we need to do to have everyone in this sport more aligned, in terms of diversity.’

Hamilton will next be in action on August 26 for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, a race the seven-time world champion has won on four occasions.