The 2022 Formula 1 season will not go down in history as Lewis Hamilton's best season. For the first time in a long time, the Brit is not in contention for the world title. But he gets his motivation from this and is now flirting with a contract extension.
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton is aiming to drive in Formula 1 beyond his contract with Mercedes in 2023. The 37-year-old is "still on a mission," said the seven-time champion in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine: "I would be lying if I said I didn't think about an extension."
Although he has nothing to do with the title fight for the first time in a long time this season, his love for racing is unbroken. "I'm still being challenged by it, so I don't really feel like I'll have to give it up anytime soon," said the Briton, who is tied with Michael Schumacher after world titles.
He even feels spurred on by his Mercedes team's unfamiliar bottoming out after the 2022 rule overturn to win another world championship," explained Hamilton.
Even the announced retirement of his long-time companion, competitor and friend Sebastian Vettel at the end of the season "doesn't make me think about my future. But it's a hint that I'm in this part of my career where people who have been racing with me for so long started to stop," Hamilton said.
After two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who will take over Vettel's cockpit at Aston Martin next year, Hamilton is now the second oldest driver in the Formula 1 field.
Hamilton, easily number one in Formula 1 history with 103 Grand Prix victories, has won at least one race every year since debuting in 2007. This season he is still unsuccessful after 13 of 22 Grands Prix. He has been driving for Mercedes since 2013, with which he won six of his seven titles.
