Is Lewis Hamilton Going To Retire After This Year's GP Season?
We've asked ourselves this question quite a lot, and many Formula 1 fans could still be wondering about it. However, the man himself, Sir Lewis Hamilton, has given hope to his fans that he will continue in Formula 1 for longer, even beyond the end of his current contract with the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, a contract that will run out at the end of the 2023 World Championship season.
After a record 103 Grand Prix wins, a joint-record seven Formula 1 World Drivers' Championships, a record 103 Pole Positions, and a record 188 podiums, you couldn't fault Hamilton if he retired from Formula 1 before the 2022 season and after the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP disaster. You can try to earn some money by betting on these records when you sign up for William Hill as a new customer.
However, the British driver continues to push in the pinnacle of motorsport and, against the thought of many, he is thriving while driving the Mercedes W13 and is working hard to provide big results to his team.
Formula One - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, 2022 Azerbaijan GP. Lewis Hamilton
All of it comes instead of the outrage expected from many of his critics, who were fast to point out in the past how Hamilton wouldn't have a positive demeanor with his team if his cars weren't the class of the field.
Lewis Hamilton is enjoying Formula 1, despite being headed to his first Grand Prix season without a win since entering the series back in 2007 (unless favorable circumstances help him get a W in the W13).
Hamilton is currently in sixth place in the 2022 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship, which would be a career-worst for the Stevenage-born 37-year-old driver. However, it isn't any kind of tarnish on his all-time great status, as the track has proven on many occasions this year that he remains at the top of his game and the top of the sport.
Obviously, machinery needs to be ideal in order to fight for a WDC, and Hamilton will be the first to admit it. But in years like these, where a championship was never at stake, Hamilton demonstrates his commitment to the series and to perfecting his craft if that's even possible.
What challenges could be ahead of Hamilton in the future?
Certainly, Lewis Hamilton has nothing left to prove in Formula 1. The British icon has done everything asked of him in the series and has endured difficult losses, like the 2007 and 2016 finales, like a true champion who is more than confident of his capability to continue fighting and grab the next championship available.
For many of his fans, he should be already looking at fighting for a ninth World Drivers' Championship in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Formula One - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, 2022 French GP. Lewis Hamilton
Hamilton crossed the 300 Grands Prix started back in the 2022 French Grand Prix, and the seven-time F1 champion seems completely committed to staying in the series.
Six drivers have started more than 300 Grands Prix and the list is full of champions (Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Hamilton) and a Grand Prix winner (Rubens Barrichello).
Despite the big names on that list, none of them won a race after reaching the 300th GP mark. Alonso, who will start a record-breaking 350th Grand Prix in the upcoming Singapore GP, and Hamilton (304 starts) are still trying to change that statistic. However, Hamilton is the only one who's been close to doing so this year.
Hamilton himself has talked about the possibilities of him racing beyond his current contract and we should believe him in that aspect. He found force and motivation to continue after last year's controversy and the current state of the Mercedes car. Given that fact, we can expect Hamilton to continue in Formula 1 for a few years before he stops his unique motor racing career.
In 2022, Hamilton is sixth in the World Drivers' Championship with 168 points and six podiums. The start of the season saw the Englishman working towards improving the W13 car, which hindered the first part of his year due to aggressive setups which put him on the wrong foot.
Since the team found some performance in the car, Hamilton has been among the best scorers in the field. The second half of the season hasn't started well, though, as the results have not been there due to a mistake from him at Spa-Francorchamps, a strategic debacle at Zandvoort and a grid penalty for exceeding engine parts in Monza. The Monza penalty came as a result of his mistake in Belgium and the damage to his car's engine.
The 2022 Formula 1 World Championship will continue with the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix on 2 October 2022.
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A graceful departure is called for whenever any sportsman / woman reaches the end of their career. Many drivers have left F1 and transitioned into other racing series.
I can't recall if any went to rallying, or the WRC. Michael Schumacher commented that the best drivers in the world were Rally drivers'.
We shall see what Lewis chooses to do next year, I suppose.
He's under contract, so pointless to think about what he'd do next year when everything's clear.
Yeah, Ricciardo also had a contact for next season...
you beat me to it.. contracts there worth nothing, cant force someone to drive
Well I don't agree with that. Contracts are very useful in case you want to stop the corporation. A good contract describes the exact way to get rid of someone.
Np, I repeat you cant force to drive for you , , it demotivates the mechanics the whole staff, and is fodder for the media, so again , you cant fore someone to drive for you and every team boss knows that but , yes i agree, an old boss once said to me contacts aren't for marriages, they are for divorces.
'She' might become a runway model.
Yeah a runAway model...........
good one
All of it comes instead of the outrage expected from many of his critics, who were fast to point out in the past how Hamilton wouldn't have a positive demeanor with his team if his cars weren't the class of the field.
Lol, and i thought it was just posters on here who wrote crap, So begging to retire after 2 laps that's positive is it...!!!, hes in it for the cash, (i doubt hell do the honourable thing and do a Nico) , lets make no bones about it , he cant beat Max, or Charlie(when his car and team dont feck up) if his skirt depended on it, WRC ------Kubica and Kimi
One thing Viktor has right, is, he has critics but not racists, writing about him
EI summed it up when team mate to MS at Ferrari, when asked by a friend of mine why he kept doing it, his reply ‘if you could drive a formula 1 car and get paid 12million a year, would’t You?’ Well wouldn’t you? Come on Stroppy get real.
that's an opinion , but he shouldn't feign retirement every season opener, Edmund was a money grabbing git, a likeable git ill give you, he at least had the nuts to say why he was carrying on , and if that's the case, then i'm right he is only in it for the money, certainly not another title the whole f1 world know that open secret, just say ah yes but id win if the car was good enough which is pretty much what hes saying now , looking so early to 23, prepping his boss, his girls and the media up for another ( make up the numbers yr) , but really would you Lucy , would you, and that's the supposed goat?
I don’t see Alonso or Ricardo rushing to retire or being criticised for not retiring but that’s ok and if I were a young charger I would want to prove that I can beat the old champions on the track consistently in fair racing.
By definition if the car isn’ good enough to win the driver in it won’t win whoever he is other than due to luck.
Schumacher carried on for years without winning a race.
AND
I’ll say again, this is a business not a sport.
i don't anyone could say schumacher carried on for years uncompetitively esp in the ferrari years, granted he was uncompetitive at Merc, beaten by those pesky Rb guys , bit of a theme going on here , but Merc wanted him, as rusty and aged 41yr as he was , id be more than happy for the Dame to go acting for 3yrs , then do a comeback , except you ,I and everyone knows, Merc wouldn't have him back
Correction Stroppy
If schumacher had been competitive after his last WDC surely he would have won something between 2006 and 2012 beside possibly another 150,000 or so.
‘ except you and I and everyone knows’ Should read ‘in my opinion or guess’.
Hwy Shrop - yer right - Kubica and Kimi DID go rallying. THX.
One can only hope. Time for some new blood. Let some of the younger drivers have a chance. It will give Brundle and Crofty a chance to focus on someone other than LH. Getting a bit tedious, guys.
Don't get drawn in, it's just sir Lulu attention seeking,, lol.
I know, wishful thinking on my part. LH is such a kidder!
Bumble and Crusty are beyond tedious with their endless sycophantic rants over The Dame. I wonder sometimes which race are they watching.
you certainly got that right
He certainly won't & quite likely not even after next season.
Yeah, I can hope can’t I?
He was only uncompetitive in the Merc yrs yeah course he should have won in 07 08 when he was Retired your right lol.......
I think she will retire.
Sir Lulu on retirement "I think I'm going to retire guys" oh no I'm not,, oh yes I am,, oh no I'm not,, oh yes I I'm,, maybe not depends on what the car is like next year,, wouldn't like to miss out on an eighth wdc,, no I've decided to stay and help out all the guys who work so hard in the factory & my engineers they will be so grateful if I stay, "don't know though should I go".
I'm not suggesting this is necessarily contrary to you, but remember Elton John was also knighted as a Sir.
dont forget the humble bit
Having watched f1 for a fair few trs , i cant recall any other driver using the H word, Question , does that mean all the drivers through the yrs and there've been a lot that haven't expressed there serene humbleness were Barstewards?, or did they just not feel the need to say it or repeat it at every opportunity?, yeah I know , its a difficult one lol
He could learn a lot from Elton or Freddie rip, in the interview stakes, not the dress shop obviously
Like The Clash said: "If I go there will be trouble // If I stay it will be double." My guess is, Dame Lucille is gonna ride this pony to the end of the contract, and Mercedes will politely refuse to renew. There is a caveat of course, the contents of the contract regarding Termination could be modified to include a bunch of new trip-wires with a lower threshold of tolerance for his extra-curricular activities. For me, he would have been down the road when he started playing the race card.
God , your so optimistic lol and like the Clash also said I fought the Max, and the Max won, poetic licence yes, true nevertheless..
Results count, while Lewis brings in millions in revenue from his millions of fans for Merc. And F1he won’t be going anywhere just because you don’t like him.
This game is all about making loads a money and despite what you try to convince yourself he is still as fast as anyone out there and faster than most given an equally good car.
What will you find to endlessly whinge about when he does retire? Can’t wait to find out, all though second thoughts maybe I can.
Hell iv’e just wasted more time on this crap when I should be working!
Yeah those Taxi fairs wont pick themselves up " The C class smelly driver"
the jax toilet janitor /cab lad missing still