Hamilton’s priority ‘winning another title’, not following Vettel into retirement

2022 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton isn’t reconsidering his Formula 1 future in the wake of Sebastian Vettel’s decision to retire from the sport.

The pair made their F1 debuts in 2007. Vettel announced at the Hungarian Grand Prix he will retire from F1 at the end of the season.

Vettel is two years younger than Hamilton, who is the second-oldest driver in F1 today behind Fernando Alonso. But Hamilton says seeing a driver who joined F1 after him call time on his career has not triggered any thoughts about heading for the exit.

“It’s a reminder that I’m in that part of my career where people that I came up with and raced with for so long will start to stop,” said Hamilton. “Before we know it Fernando will not be here and then I’ll be the eldest, I guess.”

Despite a difficult season in which he is yet to win a race, Hamilton said he is “not really thinking about” retirement yet, and is eager to capture another championship after missing out on a record-breaking eighth world title in controversial circumstances last year.

“I’m still only thinking about how to improve this car,” said Hamilton. “I’m thinking about how what are the steps that I need to take to get this team winning again. What is the road map to winning another world championship?”

Like Vettel, Hamilton has become an agitator for change in the sport and continues to lobby for greater diversity in motor racing.

“What are the steps we need to do to have everyone aligned in this sport to do more to start truly reflecting the work that we’re trying to do in terms of diversity?” he continued. “I’m thinking on those things.”

Hamilton said he still has “fuel left in the tank” to race on. His current Mercedes contract will expire at the end the 2023 F1 season.

“I’m still fighting for those things and I still feel like I’ve got plenty to go,” he said. “More likely than not, if I stop, I’ll still have fuel in the tank. I don’t think I’ll go until I’m completely burnt out and have nothing left.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
Claire Cottingham
Claire has worked in motorsport for much of her career, covering a broad mix of championships including Formula One, Formula E, the BTCC, British...

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88 comments on “Hamilton’s priority ‘winning another title’, not following Vettel into retirement”

  1. He could have gracefully quit 1 season ago. Now he is doing a Vettel. Greatest of all time who lost to Rosberg and first season anyone could challenge to Max.

    1. Tiaki Porangi
      8th August 2022, 12:26

      “Lost” to Michael Masi.
      Everyone who watched 2016 knows how Nico won that title.
      Move on.

      1. People say “lost to Rosberg” as if Rosberg was a nobody. Everybody missed him after Bottas couldn’t mount a similar challenge to Lewis. Let’s not forget that Rosberg beat Schumacher 3-0 at Mercedes. Sure, a post-prime Schumacher, but it was also a young, much less experienced Rosberg. And yes, let’s not even mention the Abu Dhabi sham of 2021.

        1. 2021 is more then Abu Dhabi so you can ask you self if you remove that race we is the champ… Max
          It’s not that Masi gifted Max a championship no after that decision Lewis was still nr.1 and Max behind him and had to overtake him which he did.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            8th August 2022, 14:17

            @macleod Max would not have been in contention for last year’s championship if the Mercedes could overtake a car. As we saw Bottas couldn’t overtake a car for the whole season while Perez was picking them off like Pac-Man asking “who’s next?” on the radio. The ability of the Red Bull to overtake last year (and this year) is comical.

            Hamilton delivered some of the best overtakes of the decade on Norris, Alonso, and Verstappen. He had to take the moon’s gravitational pull into account while trying to reach the car in front of him as the other car would pull away over the lap where the Mercedes was weaker.

            As for Max’s overtake at Abu Dhabi, I’ve never seen a worst beat down by a driver in a single race on a tag team of drivers – he humiliated Red Bull to the point that Horner even begged for a miracle. Abu Dhabi was a clinic and an apotheosis of Lewis’ superiority over the entire grid. You needed to hit Lewis with a missile to win that race which is what happened.

            For me, the Verstappen victory of 2021 should always be remembered by fans as a terrorist act on our sport where the governing agency, namely the FIA, and a team collaborated to steal the championship away from another team.

          2. Bahrain won by cutting the track 29 times. Silverstone won by eliminating your only opponent followed the next week by eliminating that same opponent effectively in Hungary. And let’s not forget the replacement of the engine practically every race to remain competitive.

            Let’s ignore all that.

          3. All the drivers cut the track in Bahrain (some more than others) because pre race notes stated track limits would not be strongly enforced. And then there’s Verstappen taking Hamilton out in Monza and brake testing Hamilton in Saudi Arabia, for which, he should’ve been disqualified. Both Verstappen and Hamilton made mistakes–that’s why there was so much excitement that they both went into Abu on equal points and it was a case of “let the best man win”. Had Hamilton lost fairly i.e. without Masi’s manipulation, many would’ve been able to accept it and move on. But it was Verstappen who was being dominantly beaten in that race—until Masi decided he had to do something about it.

          4. Why remove that race? What kind of reasoning is that? Why not stop the season at any arbitrary point then? That race was an integral part of the season and the simple facts are they got to it level on points and so it was the season decider. Full stop.

          5. That race was an integral part of the season and the simple facts are they got to it level on points and so it was the season decider.

            Pointless argument. If Pirelli could make competent tyres then Max would have already had the title in the bag by then.

            “But it’s the last race of the season”

            Meaningless

          6. @freelittlebirds

            For me, the Verstappen victory of 2021 should always be remembered by fans as a terrorist act on our sport where the governing agency, namely the FIA, and a team collaborated to steal the championship away from another team.

            Sadly for you, Verstappen’s 2021 will be remembered as the season where he beat Hamilton with an inferior car despite Mercedes trying their absolute hardest to cheat him out of the title.

            @amam

            But it was Verstappen who was being dominantly beaten in that race—until Masi decided he had to do something about it.

            Verstappen already had Hamilton beat by mid-season in 2021 until Mercedes decided that deliberately crashing into your opponent twice in back to back weekends was the only way Lewis could get back into it.

          7. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            8th August 2022, 17:29

            @kingshark I’ve known you for a while and I’m a bit disappointed by your comments. Like we said, no one is complaining about Max’s performance this year or the fact that he looks almost guaranteed to win the WDC.

            For you to claim that Red Bull was cheated is akin to Russia complaining that the Ukraine invaded them.

          8. Well, let’s have a look. Did or did Mercedes not lobby (succesfully) for a change in tyres mid season and after that suddenly got their rear end to work better and be competitive again? Did the change in pit stop rules not come in rather handy for Mercedes? Was there lots to do about wings? Was a certain RedBull not bumped off twice by a Mercedes, of which one certainly was rather questionable and even allowed the one causing to win that very same race? Did Lewis get undeserved second chances with rather cleverly timed Red Flags, both caused by their own team, in Italy and England? Did Mercedes not throw engine after engine in the back to further elaborate on their already present dominance, humiliating all teams -except one single RedBull- like they weren’t there? All gains that had nothing to do with actual racing (skills). Cheated is indeed the key word of 2021. I feel it was utterly staged (and a shame on Motorsport) to get them on equal points entering that final race. The fact there was a situation artificially created so their could be controversy that last race, is very much overlooked in all of this.

          9. Like we said, no one is complaining about Max’s performance this year or the fact that he looks almost guaranteed to win the WDC.

            I have been watching F1 for long enough to notice that whenever Hamilton narrowly loses a title, conspiracy theories are always pushed.

            In 2007, the FIA apparently didn’t want him to win (why didn’t they just kick the McLaren drivers out of the WDC standings then?)

            In 2016, Mercedes apparently wanted Rosberg to win (even though they paid Hamilton far more money?)

            In 2021, FIA wanted Verstappen to win (even though they changed the pit stop rules mid season to favour Mercedes?)

            There is one fanbase in F1 that should really learn to lose with more dignity.

          10. There is one fanbase in F1 that should really learn to lose with more dignity.

            That is to me key on this forum and also counts for Mercedes as a team. After a decade of dominance to throw away your reputation and brand values in a manner displayed last year frankly just baffles me. It is such a toddler emotion driven behavior that I personally would never have been able to keep Toto in his position. He is lucky to own a third of the team. Lets not forget Mercedes won the WCC in 2021, the highest reachable in F1. Did he capitalise on that? Far from it, rather the opposite. That’s just unacceptable no matter what way you look at it.

        2. Seems to me people who hate Hamilton love to insult other drivers as well by implying they’re all rubbish and terrible. I think these people have a massive inferiority complex they’re not able to face.

      2. The OP also forgets Ferrari challenged in 2017 and 2018.

      3. “Lost” to Michael Masi.

        Move on.

        Just follow your own advise dude…

      4. “Lost” to Michael Masi.
        Everyone who watched 2016 knows how Nico won that title.

        Ironic. The only reason why Verstappen didn’t destroy Hamilton by 75 points in 2021 was because of shear dumb luck for Hamilton.

        1. Max had his fair share of “luck”–like a timely red flag in Saudi Arabia. He also had many drivers on the grid helping him, such as Alonso and Tsunoda etc

          1. Verstappen had 3 non score races that were not his own fault (Baku UK Hungary). Hamilton’s bad luck doesn’t even remotely compare for 2021. @amam

        2. Agree about luck not comparing, maybe 75 points are a bit excessive, but let’s say that the latifi crash in abu dhabi was some badly due luck that season for verstappen and I think I had calculated that it was like half or even 1\3 of the luck swing in favour of hamilton across the season, therefore hamilton may have ended up 7 points behind or so (can’t remember about fastest lap) but should’ve been way further behind with even luck.

        3. look at the different forum, same sf.

    2. Gracefully quitting by running like a coward?? I’m glad hamilton is not rosberg!

  2. petebaldwin (@)
    8th August 2022, 12:45

    Makes sense. As long as he’s enjoying it, why leave? The pace is clearly there, the money is good and the Mercedes is improving – he’s definitely got a shot at another title in the next couple of years.

    He’s not in the same position as Vettel or Alonso where they’re trying to secure a vaguely competitive seat. Hamilton is in one of the best cars and as long as he wants to remain in F1, it looks like that seat is his.

    1. @petebaldwin Bad news for Leclerc and Norris, Lewis might race well into his 40s which means they will have to stay in their current teams for about 5 more years.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        8th August 2022, 14:46

        @wrsgo Leclerc and Norris are akin to Tsitsipas and Zverev. They lack the fire. They are where they belong.

        As time goes by, I’m beginning to believe that Ferrari made a mistake sidelining Vettel for Leclerc. I think Vettel was flawed but he is a natural born competitor like Alonso.

        1. Yet Leclerc and Norris would be 6 to 7 time WDC giving them the same material as Lewis had..

          1. Absolutely no doubt about their performance, maybe leclerc is a bit submissive to his team’s strategies, specifically with ferrari’s history, and at this point indeed mercedes already seems like a better bet than ferrari and it’s only been half a season!

        2. Vettel never destroyed ricciardo, rather the opposite, verstappen comprehensively beat ricciardo and speed wise leclerc and norris are just as fast, see again ricciardo for comparison, while admittedly he didn’t seem to adapt to the mclaren, but even so, this doesn’t happen to norris, verstappen and leclerc, they’re fast no matter the car.

          1. Why Lando mayrton he was equal to Sainz lost 2 0 though if i remember he had the speed but Sainz matched and beat him often Lewis would hammer Sainz. Ham is having a bigger benchmark this yr in George who made lightwork of Lando in equal cars @esploratore1 said lets see Lewis vs someone good well you all wrote him off few races in this year by someone who is rapid and a phenom yet the old dog is fighting back podium after podium maximising what he can do beating the slower redbull. Lewis could of went the Vet route when vs Leclerc but he is far better.

            Lewis at his age has got a great teammate. Max has got a joke of a teammate a poormans Bottas who you all ridiculed. This is probably the easiest title in history 2 Dnfs and still 80 points clear of Ferrari after just 13 rds. Lewis should be respected, George will go down as a big Max and Lec rival eventually id say he as a far harder teammate at his age plus the downer of last yr than anyone.

          2. Lando since he makes a good impression. Could of course be that Ricciardo is way worse than we think..

    2. I think indeed the possibility of a good car is important in the decision to stay out leave.
      Hamilton is still very quick AND is with one of the best teams. Good chance that the car is as fast as Red Bull and Ferrari within a few races, or by next year.
      Vettel did not have such a outlook and then it becomes more of a choice between love of racing (in the midfield or lower) and making money. I think with Vettel his family and the environment played an important role in the decision to stop.
      I must respect Alonso that he still finds the drive to race after these seasons in cars that can’t win.

    3. He a actually would have meant
      ” As long as I have winnable car”

    4. I agree. There is no sign that his performance levels are dropping off. Unlike Vettel who has seems to have slowly declined as a driver. To compare them is not really a fair comparison.

      If Merc pick the right formula for their car, I don’t see any reason why Lewis could not win an 8th title. It’s going to be a challenge though.

  3. Ahh the summer break – the time that brings us articles based around quotes from last month :)

  4. IMO, he’s already an 8x WDC. Verstappen was illegitimately gifted the title by Masi’s making up rules.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      8th August 2022, 13:51

      Yeah but in my opinion, I’m the sexiest man alive. Unfortunately, opinions and facts don’t always match up….

      1. hahaha, good one

      2. Yeah, but in this case its a fact Masi broke the rules.

        1. @cheesebucket – Actually he didn’t as RC he had the power the chance things overrulling rules like bringing the safetycar in before ending the race under it. And this is what asked from the higherups no ending races behind the safetycar ending must be racing. (because of SPA)

          His only error was (seeing his powers he could use) was wasting 1 or 2 laps telling no cars overlapping and changing this into certain cars overtake. What he had to do was let the cars pass when he was displaying No cars overlapping and we got the same results…

          1. Sure, that’s why he got fired, because he didn’t do it sooner. Clown.

    2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      8th August 2022, 14:33

      @amam +1 totally agree – a sham and shame to Jean Todt for affecting the championship to keep Schumacher’s legacy (and his own) alive. You can rationalize it any way you want but this is akin to the greatest tennis match being decided by a call in the tie break in the 5th set where the ball bounces in the middle of the court and the umpire calls it out while the other player was on the ground and had no chance of getting to that ball or hitting it.

      Just before it happened, the coach of the player asked the umpire to call it out and the umpire then calls it out while it’s clearly in the middle of the court and everyone’s wondering what’s going on. Then the umpire turns to Nadal and says “that’s tennis!!! the ball can go out!”. The other player wins the match and celebrates like Max Verstappen did in 2021 with his dad and coach screaming “we won! we won! yeah, we won!!!” and the tennis association handing out penalties to Nadal and his team for not celebrating the other player’s victory.

      Comical stuff, right? Well, it would be except for the fact that it happened…

      1. ..and if you ignore the competition is over the course of a season, instead of a single race..

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          8th August 2022, 16:43

          same with a tennis match, the previous sets and matches don’t matter if you lose it in the tie break of the 5th set cause the umpire calls your winning shot out.

          I guess your point is that Max should have been ahead and won the competition sooner… I don’t disagree – had Max driven better he would have won well before Abu Dhabi.

          1. Does Mayrton understand what a tie break is?

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            8th August 2022, 16:59

            I did give him the benefit of the doubt :-)

          3. petebaldwin (@)
            8th August 2022, 17:33

            Do you understand what a tie break is? Abu Dhabi wasn’t one…..

          4. That doesn’t stick as comparison. Whether a match ends in a tie break or not, it is still a single match. Like Abu Dhabi was a single race. It just proves you are missing the point about this being a season sport.

  5. As much as I like Vettel, it was obvious that he is well past his prime and that he only seldomly shows the talent that was once there. Just like Raikkonen was last year.

    With Hamilton (and also Alonso) my opinion is very different. They show on regular basis that they still are amongst the best in the field. I am glad that they are still racing, because they add to the excitement. I am confident that Hamilton can still win a world title if Mercedes provides a car that is good enough. The only question is, how patient will he be when the Mercedes is not improving into a race winning car.

  6. Vettel’s priority was also not retiring but Alonso came knocking and he had to gracefully retire. Hamilton is British, he has to really slow down in order to get retired.

  7. I can’t believe how many Lewis-fans are still so sour about Abu Dhabi. While Lewis is always appreciative about everything he has, some of his fans only seem to be able to focus on what he missed out on.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      8th August 2022, 14:36

      Sorry but every F1 fan including Red Bull and Verstappen’s should continue to be sour about Abu Dhabi. Read my other post about how comical this would have been if it happened in tennis. We should all be against and voice our opinions.

      If you don’t, you legitimize the fraud and are complicit.

    2. No, it’s what was taken (stolen?) from him. Can you imagine what Max’s fans would be saying if the same had happened to Max?

    3. @freelittlebirds and Green Flag: I can see how you were upset about this and I agree that it shouldn’t happen again. However, I don’t see any person who’s putting things in perspective. No “Well, Lewis already has 7, let Max have 1”, or “We still got close despite Lewis pretty much binning it in Imola” or “We still got close despite Max taking Lewis out in Italy” (which, I guess, is the perspective that fits your POV better). It’s all very black and white. We gooood – them baaaad. No “If they go low, we go high”. I think you guys are better than that and I believe Lewis would think you’re better than that as well.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        8th August 2022, 15:29

        They’re not better than that though. There are two groups on both sides who are just as bad as each other. No doubt that if it had happened the other way around, the people who are still complaining the loudest about it now would find it hilarious that people were still upset about something that happened last year and there would be a group of Max fans claiming Lewis hadn’t actually won the title to make themselves feel better about the situation.

        It’s all part of F1 becoming more like football. 100% bias 100% of the time.

        1. No Pete, had Max won fair and square it would be fine, like he’s doing this year. But last year Lewis was robbed and if you can’t see that your Maxiness is blinding you.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            8th August 2022, 16:22

            @greenflag absolutely, have you heard anyone complaining about Max winning this year? No. Not a single peep.

            What happened last year was unacceptable.

        2. I was trying to call out the good in other people, but (and underlining your post in doing so) it seems that stirring up the discussion seems to be the preferred modus operandi.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        8th August 2022, 17:12

        Ruben, There’s no justification of “Lewis has 7, let Max have 1”.

        If Max had overtaken all the lapped drivers and Lewis, he would have won. The call not to come in for new tyres coupled with the delay to overtake Perez without a crash coupled with Latifi’s accident would have unfortunately resulted in Lewis losing the championship.

        So Lewis could have lost the championship last year even without Masi interfering in the last race.

        As @greenflag stated, Max and Red Bull are looking set to win the championship this season. No one is complaining about that. It will be a fully deserved championship.

        Unfortunately the sport has been tainted and it’s every fan’s responsibility to voice their opinion and say “no, that’s just not right” I will do so everytime I see an article like this one. I haven’t posted much this season but I feel obligated to speak up regarding last year’s charade.

        1. I do agree with you that last year’s final has been tainted and it would have been better for all parties if it wouldn’t have been. If, as you say, Max would’ve overtaken all lapped cars or Masi would’ve let through all lapped cars, there would be less (I wouldn’t dare saying ‘no’) discussion.

          “Lewis has 7, let Max have 1” isn’t justification, but consolation. Of course you can choose to stay cranky about it and say silly things like “it was a terrorist attack”, but just like the sport has improved after parting with Masi and ditching direct team-to-race director communication, the sport would improve too if we would put our words and this discussion in general in a bit of perspective.

    4. The way I see it: Verstappen was the most succesful driver of 2021 (in terms of wins, poles etc) so he deserved the championship. However, Hamilton deserved the win in Abu Dhabi. And since the championship was decided in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton therefore deserved the championship. Both deserved the title, only one got it. You can argue that Hamilton was robbed of a championship and you are right, but you can also argue that Verstappen is a worthy champion and you are also right (in my opinion).

      1. I mostly agree with you, although if Hamilton would have won in Abu Dhabi he would have been the one with the most wins. It was just very very close in 2021. I definitely feel Verstappen is a worthy champion and it would have been better for all parties if the final wouldn’t have been tainted.

      2. Hamilton disqualified in silverstone, leave the lapped cars inbetween, so he win abu dhabi, then you get deserved race winners (leclerc silverstone, hamilton abu dhabi) and title winner.

  8. He’s in much better shape than Vettel, so it’s only natural he’s not ready to call it quits yet.

    1. Plus he doesn’t have a family, like Vettel does. Drivers can deny it all they want, but having kids changes people. Some quicker than others, but travelling the world for nine months is different when you have kids at home missing their dad. Like Vettel said, he’s not just a race car driver (to which one might add: anymore).

  9. I feel this makes sense given he is driving for Mercedes and not Aston or Alpine. He does have a shot at an 8th title, especially now the Mercedes lobby has paved the way for 2023. He should however not underestimate George in all of this. So far Lewis had a stellar year against Alonso when entering F1. After that he was hardly (Nico did it once) challenged by either a team mate or another competitive car. As soon as RB became competitive he lost out. So his value is yet to be assessed. I’ve said it many times before; he is one of the better drivers out there but his tally of 7 is highly influenced by the domination of the V6 hybrid era by Mercedes. Had Alonso or Vettel driven it instead of him, they would now be up to 8 or 10 WDC titles. But while he is still at Mercedes why not give it another go? He is sensitive to public opinion, show, records and fame so it will be hard for him to stop.

    1. TBF, Vettel had a shot of the titles in the 2017 and 2018 Ferrari.

      1. Except that Ferrari was hardly comparable to the package Lewis had at his convenience. Surely he knows how to maximise what he has and that is his achievement. A stellar driver, like I said, but also a rather unchallenged one. He had a full era of Jenson Button (2009) or Damon Hill (1996) like advantage..

        1. . There are various insiders such as AMuS, Chandhok, Brawn who rated Ferrari as the best car of 2018 and on par in 2017. Vettel led for most of 2017 and was at near parity at the half way stage in 2018. If these are not classed as challenges then that’s mental gymnastics, imo

      2. Yes, a long shot. Ferrari in 2017 had a small advantage only on the low speed tracks like Monaco, Hungary and Singapore. In 2018, the Ferrari was more competitive early on, but it was developed very badly which is why Ferrari reverted to a months (plural!) old spec sometime after the summer around the USA GP. By then Mercedes was already running away with the championships.

        It also shouldn’t be overlooked how many points Mercedes and Hamilton lost in those earlier races. It’s not too dissimilar to this year’s situation, where Red Bull has a clear margin on the field (not necessarily on sheer pace, but on the whole package) but their early season set them back and created a narrative in which Ferrari ‘lost’ the championship. In 2017 and 2018, Mercedes and Hamilton didn’t DNF twice as Verstappen did, but they nevertheless lost a fair bit of points along the way that helped keep Ferrari – or more truthfully Vettel – close.

        1. Nah, Ferrari went wrong with their updates in 2018 for 2 races only, and reverted back in USA and won the race. There’s a lot of revisionism surrounding 2017 and 2018. Back then, consensus was Ferrari had the raw pace to challenge in both years (with many inside experts such as Brawn, AMuS, Chandhok etc rating Ferrari as the best car of 2018). Few years from now revisionism will set in and people will say the same re 2022 title–that Max has a super dominant car in 2022 and Leclerc never really stood a chance

          1. Vettel also said Ferrari was the best car of 2017…..

            In 2018, Ferrari had the quickest car in Italy and Belgium. Singapore is difficult to assess because Vettel made a mistake on his q3 lap and backed off. Then they had issues with their upgrades in Russia and japan where Merc was clearly quickest. Ferrari then sorted out their upgrade issues in USA and won while Merc had issues with their wheel rim/tyre deg. Ferrari only had issues which affected 2 races.

          2. Generally speaking I agree, ferrari was up there in 2018, it’s mainly vettel making way too many mistakes.

    2. 7 (8) WDCs, 16 highly competitive seasons but “his value is yet to be assessed”

      I can’t believe some of the stuff i read in this comments section, it’s borderline insanity.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        8th August 2022, 16:57

        yeah, I know – the worst part is that these people find rational statements irrational.

        Then again, there are plenty of people who believe that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around the earth. Who are we to judge?

      2. You can keep denying the dominance of the car & team as much as you like. Fact remains Lewis had quite a set up around him that enabled all these titles. I am not saying they are undeserved, but rather a bit much in count and need some perspective. He is not better than a 2 or 3 time champion which did not have his luck.

        1. No one wins 60+ wins if not for circunstance. I thought that was obvious.
          But why he did it and Alonso didn’t? Because he did not run away from winning teams that didn’t give him number 1 status, to begin with.

          1. He did simply by getting involved with Mercedes (so a good call from his side). Had Alonso done it he would be 8-9 time WDC now. Had Vettel done it, he would be 10-11 time WDC by now. My point is, the number of titles doesn’t mean that much and certainly does not represent skill level vs other drivers.

          2. Had Lewis gone to RB 2010-2013 he’d have won maybe 3 titles. Had Lewis gone to Ferrari 2017-2018, he may have won a title. If, if, if

          3. @amam

            That’s basically his whole argument and we have to take it serious lol.

            What we know is that Hamilton and Vettel dominated. They are in the top 3 most sucessful drivers.
            Alonso? Shot himself in the foot on every single choice he made after ’07.

            These are FACTS, not “ifs”

  10. I can easily see him racing another 5 years, he seems as fast as ever and hasn’t even remotely dropped off the way Vettel certainly did (and Alonso hasn’t really lost anything either). Provided Mercedes can give him a car that can challenge I don’t see him going anywhere. He’ll get that 8th title no matter what some of the frankly crazy uber Max fans love to say on here and elsewhere.

    1. And when get’s Title #8 he’ll probably want #9 and #10 too.

      1. Gets, not get’s. Hey, RaceFans, isn’t it time to include an editing capability?

  11. Retirement please!

  12. Hamilton is done. He just don’t know it yet. Too many talent coming up. Even Mercedes can’t help him.

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