Barring a shock twist such as injury or worse, Hamilton intends to extend his time driving at Mercedes in F1 through the 2024 and 2025 seasons – in the process competing in 13 seasons.
That is two more than the current record of 11 which he currently shares with Michael Schumacher, after the German raced with Ferrari between 1996 and 2006. Hamilton already leads in terms of record number of races started for a single team, with his 213 Mercedes starts to Schumacher’s 180 for the Scuderia.
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Famously, the Hamilton and Mercedes partnership is one of all sport’s big success stories, with the team emphasising his 82 wins and 72 poles as part of that in its announcement of his new two-year deal – plus team-mate George Russell earning an extension until the end of 2025 too – at this weekend’s 2023 Italian Grand Prix.
Just an hour after that news was revealed, Hamilton faced the media in the official pre-event press conference at Monza, where he expanded on the intentions behind his new deal.
This included several interesting aspects of his current mindset and revealed a driver who, at 38, feels his time competing in F1 is fairly far from over.
The initial main takeaway was his comment that he and Mercedes have “unfinished business” left to achieve in F1 – a reference to their combined desire to regain the championship crowns they lost to Max Verstappen and Red Bull in 2021.
Also hanging in the air were the memories of the controversial moments of that season and its finale, where Hamilton lost the Abu Dhabi GP he had all but won to an incorrect officiating call that offered his rival the chance to turn the race and championship destinations around completely.
Source: Autosport