Lewis Hamilton intends to continue racing in Formula 1 “for the foreseeable future” if he can remain competitive, having been asked if he can realistically expect to race in the newly-announced African Grand Prix.
Earlier this month F1 revealed its plan for a new race in Rwanda, which will hold the title of the African GP, from 2030 at the earliest.
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Hamilton, a long-standing figure who pushed for F1 to return to Africa, would therefore need to remain in the series well into his 40s to compete in the inaugural race in Rwanda.
The 41-year-old dismissed doubts he would retire from F1 before the first African GP would take place despite acknowledging he would be in his mid-40s if the race was to take place in 2030 – the earliest the event is planned, subject to track and infrastructure construction being completed in that time frame.
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“Firstly, you’ve never had anyone like me here in the 70 years. I feel that I’m built differently,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s Mexican GP.
“Of course, there are challenges up ahead that I can’t foresee, that come with age. But along this way, along this journey, there have been so many preconceived ideas about the fact that your reaction time drops off. Did you see my reaction in the last race? My reaction is faster than some of the youngest people here.
“So there are lots of tools that you can utilise to continue to keep yourself, your mind sharp, as long as you’re willing to sacrifice everything, which I am right now. I can’t say in four years whether I want to continue to do what I’m doing, but I love what I’m doing still now.
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“I’m still all in, and I will be for the foreseeable future.
“Whether or not I can compete at 44 with a 20-year-old, who knows? But at 41, I can compete with a 20-year-old. So, time will tell. Whether I’m here in the 30s, we’ll see.”
However, Hamilton accepted he would not stay in F1 if he was not competitive, effectively setting himself the target of challenging for pole positions, wins and world titles over the remainder of the decade.
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“But I never want to overstay my welcome, in the sense of not having the performance,” he said.
“I don’t want to be driving around with that [pace] really, really dropped off, my reaction dropped off, my drive dropped off. My pace is dropped off, which everyone has seen last year, but I’ve proved everyone wrong with that, and I’ll continue to try to do so.”
Hamilton isn’t the oldest driver on the current F1 grid, with 45-year-old Fernando Alonso committed to racing for Aston Martin in 2027 – giving the seven-time world champion a clear example that it would be possible to stay in F1 until at least 2030.
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Coincidentally, both after the US GP and in the build-up to the Mexican GP, Alonso took aim at some of his younger F1 rivals when he said “the quality of the drivers in the low third of the grid is very low”, having been involved in an opening-lap clash with Alex Albon in Texas.
Alonso has stood by his comments and explained he felt it was a long-standing issue in F1.
“When you are at the back of the grid, the cars are more difficult to drive,” Alonso said in Mexico. “They have less grip and mistakes are coming more often because you don’t have the environment that is under control. The car does not welcome you in a nice way, so you make more mistakes.
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“But I feel that all the incidents in lap one, all the touches, all the front wings that fly around, all these kind of things are not necessary. Especially if you are fighting for nothing at the back of the grid.”
While the two topics are not directly connected, it demonstrates a belief from both Alonso and Hamilton that age is merely a number when it comes to competitiveness and racing in F1 – providing the skills and reactions remain high.
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording
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