Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has shared news about how certain members in his family hope he retires from F1 soon as opposed to continuing striving for an elusive eighth world championship.
Hamilton has a contract at Mercedes that lasts till the end of the 2023 season, but the Silver Arrows driver has already spoken about how he feels he has another 4-5 years left in him.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has also discussed the prospect of offering Hamilton a contract extension, claiming that it is one of his priorities during the off-season.
“It’s not forever but something inside is telling me: ‘you’re not done yet, you’ve got to keep pushing’,” Hamilton said.
“‘You’ve got more to do, more to achieve’.
“It’s going to be hard one day, stopping racing. I’ve done it for 30 years and it will be 30-plus years when I do eventually stop.
“Luckily for me, right this second, it’s not now.
“My dad and my brother, they’re like, ‘Yeah, keep racing forever,’ because they are racers.
“For my mum and my sister? I know they want me to do whatever I want to do.
“But, they see how tiring it is, that it weighs heavy on you. Sometimes when I go around to my sister’s house I just pass out on the couch.”
Hamilton had a disappointing 2022 campaign and failed to win a race all season for the first time in his career.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen stormed to his second successive title.
Hamilton is keen to pose a bigger challenge to the Dutchman in 2023.
“There’s no doubt that I love what I do,” he said. “I really do love the challenge every weekend, how we, as a team, show up every weekend.
“There’s a reason why I have as much energy as I do, that I’m still able to train with the intensity that I do and have the dedication that I do.
Hamilton spoke about how starting a family is also part of his future plans, but currently, his priority is F1.
“At some stage, I will want to have a family and that will be my full focus, but right now, being in Formula 1 with Mercedes is it.”
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