'I've had my time' - Lewis Hamilton's F1 retirement advice

Lewis Hamilton

'I've had my time' - Lewis Hamilton's F1 retirement advice

Could Lewis Hamilton retire this year?

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 28 April 2026 20:55

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Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has been told to 'be honest' about his current levels of performance when considering retirement.

Hamilton has been outperformed by a team-mate in three of the last four seasons in F1, and despite being a seven-time world champion, it's thought that his time in the sport could be coming to an end.

The Brit is now 41 years of age, and finished a mammoth 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in 2025, a dismal showing for somebody who is the second highest paid driver in the sport.

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Hamilton has a lot to do in 2026 to show his Ferrari team that he is worth extending that lucrative contract for another season or two, but has started the year off in good form.

The seven-time world champion banished his Ferrari grand prix podium hoodoo at the second grand prix weekend of 2026, finishing third during the main race at the Chinese Grand Prix.

He is currently sat up in fourth in the drivers' championship, but is still eight points behind team-mate Leclerc.

Now, former British F1 racer Johnny Herbert has urged Hamilton to be honest with himself about his levels of performance.

"The one thing I would probably say, if I was close to him, was be honest," Herbert told the Stay on Track podcast.

"Because there is a point where things aren’t going to be as easy as they once were. Your competitiveness is probably not going to be where it once was.

"There is a point where you’re going to have to sort of go: ‘It’s not quite where it was, and I’ve got to go. I’ve had my time.'"

Will Hamilton be replaced at Ferrari for 2027?

While Hamilton leaving Ferrari at the end of 2026 would not automatically spell retirement for the 41-year-old, there is every chance that he could be looking for a new team for the 2027 season.

Unless he can start regularly outperforming Leclerc, Ferrari may start to believe that they can get the same levels of performance by hiring a younger, much cheaper racer to sit alongside Leclerc.

Oliver Bearman, for example, is a former Ferrari junior driver, and has had a brilliant first 12 months as an F1 racer with Haas.

He finished fourth at last year's Brazilian GP, and has backed that up in the early weeks of 2026, claiming fifth position in China and sitting up in seventh in the early drivers' championship.

Hamilton will need plenty more of the podium performances that he produced in China as the 2026 season progresses.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Johnny Herbert