Africa-Press – South-Africa. We are going to do another deal. We are going to sit down and discuss it in these next couple of months.”
These were the ominous words of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix. It has long since been suspected that the British driver and his Mercedes-AMG team would agree to a new deal, and the driver has now confirmed that it would be the case.
Hamilton’s words come after team boss Toto Wolff said that the star driver could be in F1 for at least another five years, and it is believed that the next deal could be of such a length.
Come 7 January 2023, Hamilton will turn 38-years-old, and his current deal will expire at the end of next season. If a five-year contract does come into play, the driver will be 43 when it runs its course in 2028.
F1’s oldest drivers
When Hamilton lined up for the Australian GP in 2007, he was one of the youngest ever to take to the track at 22y 02m 11d. Sure, he wasn’t Max Verstappen (17) young, but it was a good period to have come of age and enter the sport with enough experience gained in his formative years.
But come 2028, he would have been in F1 for 21 years and undoubtedly the most experienced driver. And who knows, maybe he’ll surpass the record he holds with Michael Schumacher and become an eight-time world champion.
But when the final race of the 2028 season comes around (in November/December), Hamilton will be 43-years-old and could he find himself in the company of drivers like Gene Force (56th oldest F1 driver, 43y 11m 15d), Michael Schumacher (57th, 43y 10m 22d), and Luigi Piotti (58th, 43y 10m 12d).
Fernando Alonso (93rd, 41y 02m 24d) has signed a new multi-year deal with the Aston Martin team that will see him in the sport until the end of the 2024 season. By then, he should also find himself in the Force-Schumacher-Piotti company or thereabouts.
Louis Chiron is the oldest driver to have competed in an F1 race. He was 55y 09m 19d old when he raced in the 1955 Monaco GP.
But for Hamilton, the big challenge will be to remain competitive. If he can maintain fitness and competitiveness as Alonso has at 41, there is no reason why he could not be a championship contender until his time in the sport runs out.
Hamilton concluded: “I want to keep racing. I love what I do. I’ve been doing it for 30 years, and I don’t feel that I should have to stop. I think I am currently still earning my keep. I still want to do better.”
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