“If You Don’t Have Kids, Maybe You Risk It”: Lewis Hamilton Advocated Alternate Retirement Plans to Reject Life Threatening Option

Lewis Hamilton is 38 years old, in his 17th season in Formula 1. Having achieved almost every possible record-making milestone, including 7 world championships and 103 race wins, he’s set the course for other drivers to follow in the process. But there’s also no doubt he’s nearing the end of his F1 career. Once he does decide to hang up his racing boots, is an outing in another form of motorsport in the cards for him?

Another driver, Lucas Di Grassi—currently racing in Formula E—is also at the fag end of his racing career. And when he was asked what his plans were after retiring from Formula E, he compared his situation to Hamilton’s.

Will Lewis Hamilton drive in NASCAR on IndyCar?

It’s no secret that Lewis Hamilton is interested in other forms of motorsport. And although he is dedicated to Formula 1, at least for this season, he has talked about his future endeavors after retiring from F1 as well. And those plans might include another motorsport series.

In a recent interview with Total-motorsport.com, Brazilian racer Lucas Di Grassi opened up about his plans after retiring from Formula E as well. When asked if he would give IndyCar a shot, he said, “Not at all. IndyCar. I have two kids, I have seen too many accidents. If you don’t have kids, maybe you could risk it. I think [Lewis] Hamilton would be crazy to do ovals or IndyCar to be honest.”

While IndyCar, with its frequent accidents, is quite life-threatening, so is F1. And that never stopped Hamilton. Either way, Di Grassi believes there’s a greater chance of him trying NASCAR over IndyCar. And that seems to be the case for Hamilton too. In 2017, Hamilton talked about how he would love to do something with Puma in NASCAR and wouldn’t mind racing in the series for a short-term period.

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During Di Grassi’s conversation, he also said Hamilton has nothing to prove to anyone. He basically meant that he’d achieved almost all he possibly could, and retiring after F1 to not race in another series is a completely valid option. While he thinks so, one of Hamilton’s former teammates thinks Lewis will have to race in other series to be considered the GOAT of racing.

Jenson Button questions Lewis Hamilton’s GOAT title

Lewis Hamilton is undoubtedly one of the greatest drivers to race in F1. But is he the GOAT of racing? Former world champion Jenson Button doesn’t think Hamilton is quite eligible to be called the greatest racer. Hamilton dominated F1 for a large part of the last decade, winning 6 of the 10 drivers’ titles. So what urged Button to make this claim?

According to Button, numbers aren’t all that matter in racing, and even though F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, being the greatest in F1 does not mean a driver is the greatest racer. To be the greatest, he believes Hamilton will have to step out of F1 and prove himself in another series. Is there a chance Lewis will continue his racing career in NASCAR just to be considered the GOAT of racing?

Hamilton still hasn’t signed his contract with Mercedes to stay in F1 past 2023. Do you think he’ll still be on the grid in 2024, or will he have left F1 to pursue other dreams?

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