“I would like to be here next year but there’s no guarantee”- Lewis Hamilton on his possible 2020 retirement with him set to win his 7th championship.
Lewis Hamilton with a win at Imola is just one step away from clinching his 7th Championship title. But as confessed by Hamilton earlier, his days at F1 are coming to an end.
But the Briton in his latest media interaction has signalled that his departure might come sooner than expected, while he was talking about the rumoured exit of Toto Wolff from Mercedes.
“I’ve been here a long, long time. I can definitely understand wanting to pull back a little bit and give more time to family and those things. I don’t know who would replace [him] but he is a leader.” said Hamilton.
“He’s not going to put anyone that’s not going to be able to do the job, not going to be up to it, who’s not going to be geared up. He will find the right people.”
“That’s why we have the success we have, he’s found the right people and put them in a position to be able to shine as bright as possible. He’s just empowered every single person in this team to be the best they can be. So he will find somebody that’s able to take on and continue.”
“It’s not just one person, this team, it’s not just about one person. It’s a collective of a lot of people. Toto doesn’t build the car. It’s a real team effort. But I’m supportive of him, whatever he wants to do, moving forwards.”
Don’t know about the future.
Further, into the conversation, Hamilton spoke about his future in the sport, with the 35-year-old driver reaching the eclipse of his career but still dominating.
“We’re in November and it’s crazy that Christmas isn’t that far away. Naturally, I feel great, I feel very strong and I feel like I could keep going for plenty of months.”
“So I don’t know. You mentioned about Toto and shelf life, there are multiple things that do stay on the top of my mind. I would like to be here next year but there’s no guarantee of that, for sure. There’s a lot that excites me of the ‘after-life’. So time will tell.”
Hamilton’s contract extension with Mercedes is still at a stalemate, until he doesn’t confirm his next course of action, the rumours and speculations are going to circulate for a while.
