Lewis Hamilton made headlines on August 31 after he finally signed his contract extension with Mercedes. The Briton extended his current deal until the 2025 season, and in the process, ended all speculations surrounding his future. Since the 38-year-old was in his final year with the Silver Arrows, there were widespread rumors about him perhaps wanting to change teams or even retire. However, with Hamilton putting this saga to rest, Fernando Alonso has commented on his arch-rival’s recent deal in an interview with formu1a.uno.
Hamilton was keen to extend his contract as he is still dedicated to helping Mercedes return to the top. After putting pen to paper on his recent deal, the seven-time champion said (as quoted by f1.com), “I’m grateful to the team who have supported me both on and off the track. Our story isn’t finished. We are determined to achieve more together, and we won’t stop until we do“.
Meanwhile, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is also confident of achieving success again with Hamilton. The British driver formed one of the sport’s most iconic partnerships with the team as together they won eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships.
Meanwhile, Hamilton himself also won six of his seven championships with the team. This is why Alonso believes his former McLaren teammate still has what it takes to compete at the highest level.
Fernando Alonso backs Lewis Hamilton to deliver
In his most recent interview with formu1a.uno, Fernando Alonso explained how age should not be a factor in evaluating Lewis Hamilton’s potential to deliver moving forward. The Spaniard made his point by putting himself forward as an example.
“In the case of Hamilton, who continues to perform at 100% and his concern is F1 – like in my case – it isn’t a problem,” explained Alonso. “When someone faster comes, we’ll talk. But at the moment, Hamilton is faster than anyone“.
Alonso also added that if he were a team boss, he would always choose Hamilton over a promising F2 driver. The 42-year-old believes that the only time he would prefer a driver other than the Briton is if someone else proves to him that he is faster than the seven-time champion.
While Alonso had plenty of nice things to say about Hamilton, he would undoubtedly mean business if he competes against the Mercedes driver on the race track. Similar to the Stevenage-born driver, Alonso himself has not stopped dreaming of winning a third world title despite turning 42 a month ago.
Alonso is still hopeful of winning a third championship
While speaking in an interview with his sponsors Bang & Olufsen (as quoted by si.com) earlier this year, Fernando Alonso explained how he is keen on continuing in F1 for a few more years. During the interview, he also made it clear that he is still keen on doing everything possible to win a third-world title. Similarly, Lewis Hamilton also is still keen on aiming to win a record eighth title, having lost out on his opportunity back in 2021.
As quoted by independent.co.uk in March last year, the Briton explained how winning another title would be “mind-blowing” and would mean everything to him. The 38-year-old believes that what motivates him the most to fight for another championship is that it will help him accomplish a record that no one in the sport has previously achieved.
As for Alonso, he will first hope to win his first race since 2013 before he can think of winning another title. The Spaniard currently has a contract with Aston Martin that expires at the end of the 2025 season and will want to make the most of his time remaining in the sport.
