Four-time Champ Hamilton Reveals NASCAR Ambition
British four-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has made no secret of his ambition to take on more challenges once his F1 career is over. With the final race of the 2017-18 championship in his sights in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton has reiterated his wish to race in NASCAR someday. Hamilton became an official ambassador of the NASCAR race team PUMA recently and admitted he was intrigued by the possibility of making a guest appearance.
Hamilton also hasn’t ruled out the prospect of appearing in a sequel of “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” which starred Hollywood ace, Will Ferrell. As of yet, it’s unknown whether a sequel is actually in the works, but Hamilton certainly is interested, having previously played cameo roles in Disney’s “Cars 2” and “Cars 3,” as well as “Zoolander 3.”
Recently, Hamilton spoke with GQ magazine: “I’m fully committed to F1 at the moment, but I think at some point in the future, I might do, like, a guest appearance. But if PUMA did it, I think it would look sick. “I also just want to make an appearance in “Talladega Nights 2,” and I think I’d have to be in NASCAR for that.”
Once the dust has settled on the 2017-18 F1 World Championship, Hamilton is looking forward to sitting down and having an open and frank discussion with his Mercedes bosses over a new deal to secure his services for the next three seasons. Hamilton’s existing contract expires at the end of next season and Mercedes want to eradicate the prospect of either Red Bull or Ferrari, enticing Hamilton to change teams.
Hamilton must surely now be considered one of the all-time greats at the wheel of an F1 car after his fourth championship success. His ability to remain cool under pressure — even when the media has often been against him — must be respected. So too should his desire to test his racing ability in another format on the oval circuit.
Nevertheless, Hamilton has more F1 records in his sights and has finally spoken out about the prospect of breaking or at least equaling Michael Schumacher’s record of winning seven F1 World Championships. However, his hesitancy when talking to CNN — stating that he “can’t envisage” being around the sport to win seven titles — would suggest there are doubts within the Hamilton camp that he will be able to remain at the peak of the sport, and perhaps, whether Mercedes will manage to have the fastest car for enough championships. Recently, the Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda admitted that Ferrari had the more superior chassis-engine package and acknowledged that Red Bull was making big strides.
Veteran Spanish driver Fernando Alonso appears to be somewhat chirpier regarding McLaren’s prospects of delivering him a car that can compete at the top end of the grid after a bitterly disappointing 2017-18. Alonso spoke in glowing terms about his former teammate Hamilton to Sky Sports, insisting that the 32-year-old will finish his F1 career as “one of the greatest” after “winning races in a [McLaren] car, which were [sic] not in a position to win races.”
Nevertheless, nothing can take this season away from Hamilton. His unerring consistency was too much for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari to handle. And though Hamilton will almost certainly be the clear favorite for 2018-19, even with Max Verstappen starting to appear on the podium more regularly, the Dutch prodigy could be a credible challenger next year.
