After the terrible 2022 season, this year’s season opener was always going to be the ultimate litmus test for Mercedes. The team failed that test as Lewis Hamilton finished P5 while his teammate George Russell could only manage P7. What was even more embarrassing was the surprising rise of Aston Martin, who despite sporting a Mercedes engine, finished ahead of them. Soon rumors started running around about Hamilton seeking a move to Ferrari or finishing his career at the end of the season. The Briton has now put all doubts and rumors to rest with a strong statement.

The 7x champion sparked rumors of a rift with the team after he openly criticized the Mercedes engineers. Following the result in Bahrain, he revealed that the team did not take his feedback on the car seriously. The comments fanned the rumors even more and some experts too felt that the desperation for the 8th title might well take him to the Prancing Horse.

Putting out his final word ahead of the race weekend in Melbourne, The Malaysian Reserve quoted Hamilton as saying, “I feel amazing about it (the future), I continue to feel very, very much at home, it’s a family. I see myself being with Mercedes till my last days.”

“If you look at the legends, Sir Stirling Moss was with Mercedes till the end of his days, and that’s been the dream for me, to one day have that. I mean, I have that, so just continue on with that, continue to build with the brand,” he added.

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After clearing up where his loyalty lies, Lewis also told when he will retire from F1.

Lewis Hamilton believes he is still in good enough shape to continue

After spending several years together, it seems like Lewis and Toto Wolff’s opinions have started to align. As questions were raised over the latter’s position in the team recently, he talked about leaving the team voluntarily the day he felt he did not have anything more to contribute. Now, his ace driver has echoed a similar on his retirement.

Hamilton told, “I think for me personally, just so long as I continue to help the team, as long as I can continue to help drive the team forward, to contribute, then that’s why I want to stay. If there’s ever a point where I feel like I’m not able to do that then it’s time for a youngster to come in. But I’m still feeling pretty young and in decent shape.”

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Despite both parties showing earnest intention to stay together, neither has put pen to paper as yet. Do you think that much-anticipated contract extension is just around the corner?