“I’m built differently” as he eyes F1 career into 2030s

Outubro 30, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton insists he is “built differently” as he discusses the idea of extending his career long enough to race at the new African Grand Prix.

F1 recently announced a 10-year deal with Rwanda to host a race at a new circuit near Kigali, with the event expected to join the calendar in the early 2030s. Upon hearing the news, he was asked his thoughts on the contract after he had long campaigned for a return to the continent.

He joked that he would have to extend his career to race there, but how serious is he?

“Firstly, you’ve never had anyone like me here in the last 10 years. So I feel that I’m built differently,” he said. “Of course, there are challenges up ahead that I can’t foresee that come with age. But along this way, along this journey, there have been so many preconceived ideas about the fact that your reaction time drops off.

“Did you see my reaction in the last race? My reaction’s faster than some of the youngest people here. So there are lots of tools that you can utilise to continue to keep yourself and mind sharp. I guess as long as you’re willing to sacrifice everything, which I continue to if I am right now. I can’t say in four years whether I want to continue to do what I’m doing, but I love what I’m doing still now.

“I’m still all in and I will be for the foreseeable future. Whether or not I can compete at 44 with a 20-year-old, who knows? But at 41 I can compete with a 20-year-old. So time will tell whether I’m here in the 30s. We’ll see.

“But I never want to overstay my welcome in the sense of still not having the performance. I don’t want to be walking – driving around with that really dropped off. My reactions dropped off, my drive’s dropped off, and my pace has dropped off, which everyone assumed last year. But I’ve proved everyone wrong with that and I will continue to try to do so.”

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Brett Farmer / LAT Images via Getty Images

Hamilton is third in the drivers’ standings, just one point behind George Russell in the fight for second. But the Briton said that battle is not a priority.

“I’m not going to say it doesn’t mean anything, but it’s not something I focus on. I think winning the championship is the only thing anybody must really care about.”

Instead, Hamilton wants to secure second in the constructors’ championship for his team, which finished fourth last year, and will use the final five races to prepare for 2027.

“I’m really using these five races as a test bench for next year’s car. Spending time speaking with our head of aerodynamics, talking about vehicle dynamics, where we can improve this car, how we can keep the goodness of the chassis, for example, which has been great this year.”