‘I could race into my mid-40s if I wanted to’

Jon Wilde
Lewis Hamilton PA

Lewis Hamilton has given his F1 rivals a Halloween fright by claiming he is physically capable of racing for another 10 years.

Lewis Hamilton has given his F1 rivals a Halloween fright by claiming he is physically capable of racing for another 10 years.

It’s enough to put a shiver down the spine of every driver hoping to become World Champion any time soon, with the 35-year-old also insisting he is still improving as a competitor.

With a record 92 Formula 1 race wins under his belt, and a seventh World Championship title surely only weeks away, attention is turning to how long Hamilton will continue in the sport – especially as he has yet to pledge his future to Mercedes beyond the end of this season.

But on the eve of the two-day Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend at Imola, the Briton stated it will definitely be a case of the mind wanting to give up before the body – as physically he thinks he could go on for another decade.

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“I think there’s the human body clock part but I think I’m a long way away from that, if I’m really honest,” said Hamilton, who will have helped Mercedes clinch a seventh straight constructors’ World Championship if either he or team-mate Valtteri Bottas finishes on the podium at Imola.

“You look at Michael Schumacher, he was still very fit at 43 years old. It’s all a state of mind and how you want to apply your time, how much training you want to do, the boring stuff like stretching and really looking after your ‘temple’ or whatever.

“Then it’s if you’re still hungry. I think for sure I will know – as I think I know myself very well now – when I won’t want to do it anymore. I will know when it just doesn’t do it for me anymore.

“I honestly don’t think I’m not going to be able to drive. I think if I want it – and I know how to apply myself – I think I’ll be able to do it. I don’t think my reactions will tail off until I’m at least in my mid-40s.

“But I’m not here to be here for that long. I’ve got other things I want to do. I’ll keep doing it because I love doing it right now and I feel like I’m getting better.

“I’m able to apply myself more efficiently year on year, as I continue to learn about myself. I think that’s a beautiful process, learning the good and the bad and how to navigate through that.”

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