Lewis Hamilton to quit F1 when "I don't get that smile"

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton to quit F1 when "I don't get that smile"

Hamilton has raced in F1 since 2007, winning at least one race each year

Sam Hall

Wednesday 27 January 2021 05:00

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Lewis Hamilton has revealed he will walk away from Formula 1 the moment driving stops making him smile.

With pre-season testing just seven weeks away, Hamilton is yet to sign a new deal with Mercedes.

While it appears unlikely Hamilton will call time on his career at this moment, the 36-year-old Briton has laid out his criteria for future retirement.

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“For me personally, we’re all struggling with something," Hamilton told the 'Formula for Success' podcast with Mercedes sponsor Crowdstrike.

"You’ve got to find what you’re passionate about and what you love doing, and me personally, in my journey, there was a point where it just got too serious.

"We only have one life. You have to enjoy what you’re doing. You’ve got to find happiness every day in what you are doing and I think that has been really important for me to be able to live in the moment.

"Yes, it’s a competitive space that I’m in, but when I get in that car and put down the visor, the team start up the car and I leave the garage, I have the biggest smile. Even today, after all these years of racing.

"If there’s ever a day that that doesn’t happen, I don’t get that smile, I know that it’s done and I need to move on to something else."

Hamilton's interests away from the circuit are well known, with the driver launching a fashion line with Tommy Hilfiger and releasing music under the alias of XNDA.

Hamilton believes his other passions are vital to helping him find balance in his life.

“It doesn’t mean just because you’re good at one thing and you’re successful at one thing, that you can’t also have other things that also add to that, so I try to find other things that I’m passionate about," he added.

“I love music. So from playing the guitar to trying to learn to play the piano, which I’m not that great at, I know I can get there at some stage, I think it’s super important.”