Lewis Hamilton “planning for the next five years” in F1

You heard the man. Lewis Hamilton has firmly put the idea of retirement from F1 to bed, revealing that he’s planning to be on the grid for the next five years at least.

That would mean racing beyond his 45th birthday – the same age Aston’s Fernando Alonso is now – and into the 2030s. Wowzers.

The seven-time champ sent shockwaves through the sport by making the switch from Mercedes to Ferrari for 2025, but his first season with the Italian team was a disaster, fuelling rumours that he could soon hang up his helmet.

But he’s started 2026 in much better form – scoring his first podium in red in China back in March – and far closer to the pace of teammate Charles Leclerc. And ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix he has confirmed for the first time that he is “still in contract” with Ferrari for 2027.

“So everything is 100 per cent clear to me,” he explained. “And yeah, I’m still focused, I’m still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart, and I’m going to be here for quite some time. So get used to it.

“There’s a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that’s not even in my thoughts. I’m already thinking of what will be next, planning for the next five years.

“But yeah, [I] still plan to be here for some time.”

Not quite Wolf of Wall Street levels of ‘I’m not leaving!’, but unequivocal nonetheless. And if nothing else that means more high-production, smokey videos in very exotic cars.

What do you think, folks: has he still got that elusive eighth championship in him?