Lewis Hamilton - Plays Down Retirement Talks

Lewis Hamilton - Plays Down Retirement Talks

23/6/2017

Lewis Hamilton has played down the speculation of retirement after his F1 contract with Mercedes expires in 2018.

Quoted by the media saying "my destiny is in my own hands. I can decide to stop at the end of this year". But says he is not planning to retire when on top of his game "I don't really remember discussing that. That's not something I'm thinking about right now.".

"The dream for a lot of sportsmen and women is to go out on top.

"I guess you could then say a lot of people stopped before their time. I haven't decided whether I want to stop before my time, at the moment I don't plan to."

Concerning Things To Do After Retirement

"We always say the grass is always greener on the other side," he said.

"There are many parts of what the season stops you doing. There are so many great things that come along with it, that I'm really enjoying at the moment, but for sure there are things I look at and think 'jeez, if I had the whole year there is so much I could achieve and so many things I could tick off the bucket list'.

"But then I'll look back and think I've not been racing a Formula 1 car, so there is a time and a place for lots of different things. Prioritising is important and choosing the right times. I guess only God knows when the time is right for certain things.

"But right now I'm very, very fortunate being in this team. I've got an amazing team around me and a great boss who enables me to have part time for other interests which keep me going."

Hamilton also said he "can't imagine myself being anywhere else" but Mercedes as it stands, having joined the Brackley team in 2013 and raced with Mercedes power for all of his F1 career to date.

Concerning Joining Ferrari Before Retirement

"Again, that's not something I'm thinking, at the moment all I think about is beating the Ferrari. But I've made it no secret I'm a huge fan of the team, a big fan of Ferrari and what they've achieved in the history of motorsport and the normal world in terms of the cars that they make.

"Who knows what the future holds, at the moment I can't imagine myself being anywhere else but here. I'm really enjoying the fight we have with Ferrari and admiring them for the strong competition."