The F1 summer break has almost concluded, and the 2nd half of the 2023 F1 season is right around the corner. What should we be looking for in the final stages of this championship? With Red Bull dominating the first-half, everyone is hoping for a more competitive end this year. But off the track, another startling fact begs our attention. 7x champion, Lewis Hamilton, at least on paper, is without a seat for 2024. But as Hamilton and Mercedes bash a contract out, the Brit has sent a shocking confession our way.

In the tight-lipped F1 paddock, there’s only so much that you can say. For the 38-year-old Silver Arrows’ talisman, he’s been there and done it all. And while we don’t know whether the iconic duo that tore the turbo-hybrid era of this sport apart will continue together, we know that Hamilton is still aiming to grab that elusive 8th world title.

Lewis Hamilton is ready to sacrifice the present for the future

Currently, Hamilton’s eye-watering $35,000,000 Mercedes deal runs out at the end of the 2023 season. There have been rumors around that the Brit has signed an extension with the Brackley-based team. However, financials aside, Hamilton is currently experiencing an acute bout of tunnel vision.

For Hamilton, this season and everything that comes with it is a foregone conclusion. He was quoted as telling Channel 4, “I don’t care in which position I finish my 2023, I just want to help the team as much as possible in development, so that we can start next year, at the first test and at the first race, with a car that has no rebounds, that has that downforce and that efficiency that we need. Then we can fight anyone. That’s my dream.” [translated via Google Translate]

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Hamilton seems to have committed his future to Mercedes. But in his own words, he knows the cost of loyalty may have a steep price to be paid.

Hamilton accepts dicey 2024 with Mercedes

With Hamilton almost nearing the end of his F1 career, this new extension, if signed, is a hail-mary attempt at that 8th. While from his perspective he trusts no one more than the team that helped him to 6 of his 7 titles, he admits that staying with Mercedes might turn out to be a huge gamble.

He continued, “The car is getting better and better and if we work until the end of the season, like in 2022, on the one hand it’s good but on the other it’s not, because we know that some teams will already have next year’s car.”

Can Lewis Hamilton rewrite history and win his 8th world championship with Mercedes in 2024?

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