The Bahrain pre-season testing is over for the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and he will return to Bahrain again for the first race of the season. However, having faced a few challenges in the recent test, the Mercedes man claims he might not win there.

Mercedes had an impressive run in the Barcelona testing last month. But, the German constructor couldn’t continue the impressive run in Bahrain. Hamilton finished 17th on the last day of the Bahrain testing while his new teammate, George Russell, set the 4th fastest time.

Meanwhile, teams like Ferrari, McLaren, and even Haas seemed strong at the Bahrain test run. Furthermore, rivals Red Bull also shifted their gears up on the last day and showcased impressive performance in Bahrain.

The Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton shared having a problem driving the upgraded W13. Aside from this, he also expressed how he isn’t yet ready to compete against others in the first race or even for the eighth title. The 37-year-old shared with SkySports, “It is too early to have those kind of thoughts about the world championship, but at the moment I don’t think we will be competing for wins”

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“There is potential within our car to get us there. We’ve just got to learn to be able to extract it and fix some of the problems, which is what we’re working on.”

Lewis Hamilton hints at his retirement

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about Hamilton’s retirement. Further, there was a lot of speculation about his retirement after the Briton failed to lift the record eighth championship title and lost to Max Verstappen. the Mercedes driver became inactive on social media after his defeat, leading many to believe that he retired. However, he eventually put an end to those claims after his return to the Brackley base for the 2022 season.

However, the talks about the Silver Arrows driver is again everywhere. Recently, the 2021 World Champion Verstappen signed a lucrative contract with Red Bull, which ties him to the Austrian constructors until 2028. When journalists asked Hamilton to share his thoughts on Verstappen’s contract, instead of expressing his views towards Max or Red Bull, the Briton instead hinted at his retirement.

Hamilton said, “I haven’t thought about that number, cos I’m 37, a bit to go! I don’t plan being here close to that age. Hopefully I’ll have something else fun to do.”

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If Lewis Hamilton manages to lift his record eighth World championship, then it might also be his last season. Therefore, it would be interesting to see what happens this 2022 season.