Sir Lewis Hamilton has achieved greatness racing for the Brackley-based team. Hamilton came to the Silver Arrows in 2013 after the great Niki Lauda encouraged the racing team to bring in the McLaren racer. Previously Lewis Hamilton won a world driver’s championship for the McLaren team, but nobody could predict what would follow after the great Briton came to the Mercedes team. What happens for the next six or seven years is history.
An absolute record-breaking golden generation of the Mercedes team began. From 2014 to 2020, Mercedes had complete dominance on the Formula One track, primarily due to Lewis Hamilton. As mentioned earlier, Hamilton already had one title in his bag while racing for McLaren. However, in the golden generation of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton added six more world driver’s titles equalling with the F1 great Michael Schumacher.
Is Lewis Hamilton Retiring From Formula One?
In 2020 Hamilton matched the feat, and two years later, he still shares the number of world championships with the great German. Lewis Hamilton came pretty close to overtaking the Ferrari Legend in 2021 when fortune did not favor him. The title passed to the Dutchman of Red Bull, Max Verstappen. Albeit, Schumacher was part of Mercedes-Benz for a couple of years after he came out of retirement. But he did not have much luck as he could not extend his driver’s titles to eight.
In that same team, fighting against all odds, Lewis Hamilton was able to achieve the unthinkable. Again a situation has arrived when the odds are against the seven-time champion. The 38-year-old veteran is expected to be on the verge of retirement. Hamilton has got many interests other than racing at this phase of his life. Fans are curious about Hamilton and that he can regain the energy and passion for winning a driver’s title for one last time. Fans were also interested in his contract with Mercedes ending this year.
How Is The “First Chat” With Hamilton Sounds Like?
Will he stay part of the Silver Arrows for a more extended period? There were rumors and speculations everywhere, especially on social media. Finally, the news has arrived that the team has started discussing the much-awaited extension. According to Team Principal Toto Wolff, “Age is not going to be an issue in the contract extension process with our champ.” Regarding age, the Mercedes boss gave the reference to Quarterback Tom Brady in NFL, who carried on till he was 45. It looks like Toto Wolff is a strict believer in the phrase, “Class is Permanent.” However, Toto also mentioned that both he nor Hamilton is not in any hurry about these negotiations.
Toto stated, “His contract ends after this season, and we will have a final discussion about the extension at the right time.” Mercedes Boss sounded very optimistic about what he feels Lewis Hamilton wants. The team boss mentioned, “as for Hamilton, I know he wants to continue with the team, and so do we. Our journey together most certainly will continue.” The boss emphasized the understanding that the seven-time champ and the team have in between. According to Wolff, the team has found solutions for any contractual situations that they have come through in the past. They will find solutions again if such situations come by again. The team is not at all worried about it.
