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Lewis Hamilton has confirmed his retirement is still a long way down the road, admitting he won't leave F1 until he is completely burnt out.
Hamilton started his career with McLaren back in 2007 and is now in his 16th season in F1. Following Sebastian Vettel's impending retirement at the end of the year, the Briton will be the second-oldest driver on the grid, behind Fernando Alonso.
The seven-time world champion's current contract runs through until the end of 2023 but Hamilton has no plans to walk away just yet, feeling there is more to be achieved on and off the asphalt.
In an interview after Sebastian Vettel announced his plans to retire during the 2022 F1 Hungarian GP, Lewis Hamilton said:
“I think it’s a reminder that I’m in that part of my career where people that I came up with and raced with for so long will start to stop. Before you know it, Fernando will not be here. And then, who was there after that? I’ll be the oldest I guess! But, no, it’s not made me think about that [retirement]. I’m thinking about how I can improve this car. I’m thinking about what the steps I need to take to get this team winning again, what is the road map to winning another world championship? What are the steps we need to do to have everyone aligned in this sport to do more to start truly reflecting the work that we’re trying to do in terms of diversity? I’m thinking about all those things.”
The Mercedes driver is adamant he still has plenty to go in the tank, adding:
“When I talk about fuel left in the tank, I’m still fighting for those things and still feel like I’ve got plenty to go in that. If I stop, I will still have fuel in the tank. I don’t think I will go until I’m completely burnt out and have nothing left. But, hopefully that’s a while off.”
"There is still a lot of work to do" - Lewis Hamilton wants to leave F1 better than he found it
Lewis Hamilton feels there is still a lot of work left to be done to improve F1 and hopes to leave the sport better than he found it when the time comes for him to retire.
Speaking in the aforementioned interview, the Briton lauded Sebastian Vettel for his activism, something the pair have been vociferous about in recent years. Hamilton said:
“The work that I’ve tried to do, what Seb’s been trying to do here – really igniting the fire of sparking conversations, to leave the place a better sport than it was when we found it. And I think Seb has definitely had a huge role to play in that and there’s still a lot of work to do, which I don’t know if Seb is going to do more work, continue on the work in the background with the sport or not. I doubt he’ll come back and do commentary, but you can never say never. But I do hope it’s in a better place. It would’ve been an awful waste of time if not.”
Lewis Hamilton has had a difficult season by his lofty standards. The 37-year-old has 146 points and is currently sixth in the drivers' standings with nine races remaining in 2022. Should the season end this way, it will be Hamilton's worst finish ever, eclipsing his lackluster title defense in 2009 when he classified P5 in the standings.
