“I love what I do so much”, Lewis Hamilton says he is not thinking about retirement

This is one of the big questions that animated many fans of Formula 1. If he had been titled on the evening of Abu Dhabi, after an intense knife duel with Max Verstappen and an extraordinary comeback at the end of the season, Lewis Hamilton would he have retired like a king, with an eighth title which would have allowed him to surpass Michael Schumacher in the number of world championships? We will never repeat history and above all, we will probably never know. But the main person concerned has his own idea: " I do not think so, he confided in the columns of L'Equipe. I'm not one to focus on a number. Driving is my passion. Eight titles wouldn't have changed my life. I don’t see myself going for a title…”

At 37 years old, Lewis Hamilton's career is however closer to the epilogue than the beginnings. But he explained that he did not talk about it too much with those close to him. “I only talked about it with Serena (Williams, the tennis player) and a few other athletes » he explains. And when asked if he thinks about it, the Briton responds straight away: “I love what I do so much”, before further adding: “I will continue as long as I am having fun”.

Lewis Hamilton hopes to play spoilsport in Baku. © DPPI

With an ambitious vision about to Mercedes W13 which has bounced back like a kangaroo since the start of the year and which is above all evolving on average a good second from the Ferrari and Red Bull off the top of my head, is Lewis Hamilton really having fun? At a press conference on Friday, he explained that this situation allowed him to learn things, and that he now appreciated being more focused on the collective. In L'Equipe, he in any case explained why he was not ahead of his teammate George Russell in the championship.

" Of course, (which is problematic for me), it’s the rebound. It is not pleasant. There are also these new tires but I would say that what bothers me the most is the entry into the corners. Because of the rebound, I can no longer attack the rope as firmly as before. I have always driven like this, very aggressive when entering corners. There, with these undulations, I have to constantly move backwards. I imagine that George, coming from a stable (Williams) where he had less support, suffers less from this problem. I'm not looking for excuses, I just want to understand. We'll get there and when we get there, I'll be back. »

At a time when some continue to send him into retirement, Hamilton promises to be back. His appetite is insatiable, and when we know that since his first victory in F1 on June 10, 2006, he has always won at least one race per season, we say to ourselves that this could happen well before the 2023 season...

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