Lewis Hamilton says there is “no guarantee” that he will still compete in Formula 1 next year, following his victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Hamilton claimed his 93rd Formula 1 win by leading Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas at Imola, a result which clinched a seventh straight Constructors’ crown for the team.
Hamilton is out of contract with Mercedes at the end of 2020 but both parties have indicated that they will conduct talks once the titles have been settled.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s future has been the subject of speculation amid suggestions that he will scale back his day-to-day involvement in the running of the Formula 1 team.
When it was suggested that Wolff may not be in the same role next year Hamilton replied: “I don’t know if I’m going to be here next year, so it’s not really a concern for me at the moment.
“I understand and we have a lot of deep conversations, Toto and I, so I am very, very aware of where he is mentally and we share and carry a lot of the weight together I think.
“I’ve been here a long, long time and I can definitely understand wanting to pull back a little bit and give time to things like family and those things.
“I don’t know who will replace him, he’s a leader. He’s not going to put anyone in who’s not going to be able to do the job, who’s not going to be up to it. He will find the right people.
“But this team is not about one person, it’s a collective of a lot of people. It’s a real team effort. I’m supportive of him whatever he wants to do moving forwards.”
Hamilton added that “we are in November and it’s crazy that Christmas is not that far away.
“Naturally, I feel great and feel very strong. I feel like I could keep going for plenty of months, but on Toto and shelf life, so there’s multiple things that do stay on the top of my mind.
“I would like to be here next year but there’s no guarantee of that for sure. There’s a lot that excites me of the ‘after life’, so time will tell.”
Lewis is so full of it. 3 races ago he said he never sandbags never lies. Last race my tires are shot and goes to catch and pass Bottas. Said the same today and they let him stay out and go to a different strategy. I am convinced Lewis has more power on tap than Bottas. I personally think that why would they have him go to a different engine mode if the floor has damage. To back Verstappen up. If the fia wants better competition they need to only let teams communicate gaps and instructions to pit. If mode change is given a pit stop is required.
I think this is Lewis way of expressing his displeasure over driver salary cap
That and they also want to fast track the new engine and to there displeasure they might find themselves battling for the podium. We all know Hamilton moans and bitches when he isn’t in the lead so he may bail out before the salary and engine rules come into play
You’re correct, it’s a long-standing pattern from Hamilton. He’s always claiming some problem or other, be it loss of power, graining tyres, no grip, lack of downforce…the list goes on. Yet he’s finished nearly eighty consecutive races, forty-odd points positions in a row, whereas someone like Senna had a thirty per cent plus technical dnf rate. All it is is a ploy to try and make us think he’s having to do some work to keep winning, when we all know he’s in the only car that can win the title with a crap teammate in the other one.
Bottas isn’t even close to Rosberg, never mind being a top driver. Yet even so, Mercedes block any moves he wants to make. Last week he was refused the soft tyre because, they said, “We don’t operate like that, everyone gets an equal chance.” Then, at Imola, as soon as Bottas has pitted they are telling Hamilton to extend and get a tyre advantage for later in the race. What they really meant was “We don’t do that for you, Bottas. If you win it’ll be despite us, not because of us.”
Sadly, Hamilton will be there next season, because if not I, for one, would be anticipating being proven correct when a good, but not world-beating, driver like Perez or Hulkenberg, or a talented but inexperienced one like Russell, beats Bottas as convincingly as has Hamilton.