Hamilton’s emphatic response to retirement question after ‘worst-designed’ Ferrari
Is it time for Lewis Hamilton to retire?
Lewis Hamilton will not hang up his helmet at the end of this season as the Ferrari driver is “excited for a new generation of car” after four years of racing the “worst” cars he’s ever driven.
Although Hamilton is contracted to Ferrari for the F1 2026 season, and has an option that is in his hands for 2027, questions have been asked about the 40-year-old’s future as he nears the end of a win-less campaign.
Lewis Hamilton told: “OK, I think it’s time to stop.”
It could in fact even be a season without a grand prix podium for the seven-time World Champion, his first in his 19 years on the grid.
Swapping from Mercedes to Ferrari in the off-season after 12 years and six World titles with the Brackley squad, Hamilton has found the transition to red more difficult than expected.
He claimed a pole position and the win at the Sprint in China, round two, but that has been his sole accolade in a season marred by more lows than highs.
With one race weekend remaining, Abu Dhabi, Hamilton sits P6 in the Drivers’ standings on 152 points, 78 behind his teammate Charles Leclerc. He could yet lose P7 to his Mercedes replacement, Kimi Antonelli, as the Italian is only two points behind.
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It has pundits pondering whether the 104-time grand prix winner could call time on his F1 career at the end of this season.
“Lewis Hamilton is, of course, a seven-time world champion, but that doesn’t matter if the performance isn’t right,” former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland.
“I have to say, that’s why he was so frustrated. He realised that he was at his limit again, that he just wasn’t fast enough.
“And to be honest, if it ends like this and it’s the same on the last two races, then we should really encourage him to perhaps make way for someone who still has their whole future ahead of them, someone who can also help Ferrari move forward in the future.
“I hear people say, you’re bashing Hamilton, so let’s put that aside, because I really wish him well, but still, it does something to people when he says, yes, I try, I try, and the more I try, the worse it gets from his point of view, and that’s just a sign that, as I often say, the film is too fast now.
“For some reason, he can’t bring it all together anymore. He no longer has that harmony over an entire lap, and he no longer has that feel-good factor in the car, those processes of braking, accelerating, shifting gears and so on.
“In other words, being at his optimum. And that’s simply the point where, as a driver, you have to say, OK, I think it’s time to stop.”
Hamilton, however, is adamant he’s not going anywhere.
In fact, he’s looking forward to the F1 2026 season with its all-new cars that will see the end of the ground-effect generation and instead adopt active aerodynamics.
“No, no, no,” he insisted after Qatar.
“I’m excited for a new generation of car. Because this has been the worst-designed one that I remember in my phase.
“The 2009 generation was pretty bad as well, but at least we had better tyres, and better grip.
“But this one with the bouncing, the stiffness, it’s just not been enjoyable period.
“And the worst racing, none of us can overtake. What’s the point of having a race if no one can overtake?”
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