‘He’s a very determined racing driver’: Lewis Hamilton expected to shun retirement to chase record F1 title

Lewis Hamilton has been backed to continue F1 for another season despite his early struggles in the current campaign.

Hamilton has dropped several hints about retirement over recent years, and many observers thought the devastation of losing the 2021 title fight to Max Verstappen might bring about the end of the seven-time world champion’s glittering career.

However, Hamilton has continued this season, in which Mercedes have fallen behind rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.

And former team owner Ross Brawn believes the 37-year-old is going nowhere.

“Amid all the glitz and the glamour, you still have a very determined racing driver,” he told the Evening Standard. “He’s still supremely fit and capable. I’m pretty certain he wants to win that eighth championship and, if not this year as looks likely, then next year.

“I don’t know enough about what Mercedes’ issues are to know if they can be fixed with the concept of car they have or whether they have to review the concept. They’ll sort it out I’m sure – but it’s obviously very fragile what they’re dealing with.”

Hamilton has insisted that he does not feel like the leader at Mercedes and that he and George Russell “work equally hard together”.

Hamilton’s hopes of winning a record-breaking eighth world championship have all but disintegrated during a miserable start to the season for Mercedes and he trails teammate Russell by 28 points in the drivers’ standings.

His place at the pinnacle of the sport today remains undisputed, though, even as the new generation of drivers led by Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc begin to establish what appears to be a new era.

But when Russell was asked at a press conference what qualities he saw in Hamilton as a leader, the 37-year-old interjected and said: “Well, firstly, I wouldn’t say I’m the leader. George and I work equally hard together, I would say, to help drive the team and row just as hard as everyone else in the team.”