Hamilton exit imminent? 'Then I don’t think Lewis will hang around'

Lewis Hamilton is in his final seasons as a Formula 1 driver. While the Briton has consistently competed for the world title since 2014, he could not prevent Max Verstappen from being by far the best driver this race year. John Watson does not rule out Hamilton leaving the motorsport class in the foreseeable future, he told Planetf1.com.

Hamilton is dealing with a new teammate this season. George Russell immediately appears to be doing extremely well, as the Briton is two places higher in the world championship with 27 more points. Watson expects there could be a problem there.

"If he was to get hammered by Russell in the remaining races, I don’t know what he would do," the former Formula One driver told us. "I think it would be very difficult to walk away in that context. But if Russell becomes the man at Mercedes, I don’t think Lewis will hang around."

However, Watson does not expect things to happen that quickly and Hamilton to reappear on the grid at the start of the 2023 season. If Mercedes manages to put a competitive car on the track then, he thinks Hamilton will find extra motivation.

Hamilton can look to other top teams

In addition, the driver still has an option to move to another team, although opportunities at the top teams remain scarce for that. "Maybe he’d like to roll the dice one more time and see if there’s a seat for him at Ferrari or, very unlikely, at Red Bull."