'Hamilton will quit F1 to pursue music career'

Former F1 driver David Coulthard reckons that Lewis Hamilton is making plans to quit the sport at the end of 2020 once the Concorde Agreement ends and will look to pursue a music career, something he has allegedly already been working on.

Hamilton's current contract with Mercedes will expire at the end of the season and negotiations continue over a new deal, with stumbling blocks thought to be the salary increase and the length of the deal.

And Coulthard, speaking on Graham Norton's Radio 2 show, feels that Hamilton will be ready to move on when the Concorde agreement, which guarantees the current structure of the teams within the FIA, expires - and has a completely new career in mind.

He said: "I think it's got to be on his mind.

"I think that he'll go to 2020 which is [the end of] the current Concorde Agreement, that's the agreement between the commercial rights holder, the FIA and the teams. It defines how the sport looks and feels.

"But I think beyond 2020 there's every likelihood he may well be releasing his first [music] album which he's been working on."

Coulthard also discussed who could potentially replace Hamilton in the Mercedes seat and identifying GP3 champion George Russell as a young prodigy with the talent to be a success.

He added: "He's with Mercedes as a reserve driver, so he wouldn't be known internationally but he's certainly someone that has got skills, talent and potential.

"Potential is a great word in sport, a lot of young guys get into it using the word potential. And then of course the fulness in time will tell us whether that potential is fulfilled. But I think he's one to watch."