Hamilton on retirement "It'll be the saddest day in my career"

Lewis Hamilton turns 35 in just a couple of days but the six-time world champion is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Hamilton believes the day he retires will be the "saddest day" of his entire career but doesn't give any clues as to when that will be. 

When the 2021 rules and regulations were announced in Austin at the back-end of the 2019 F1 season, Hamilton claimed he is looking forward to working with the changes and then went on to say he feels fresh after completing a 21 race season. 

While the Mercedes driver isn't afraid of calling it a day, he knows it'll be inevitable. 

“I'm not afraid of it, but I already know that it will be the saddest day of my career. I think that is the same for every athlete: stop what you have spent most of your life on. That is the reason that I do so many other things, to make sure that I don't get stuck with a big hole," Hamilton said in a conversation with Auto Motor und Sport. 

How long will he go on?

Kimi Raikkonen is the latest driver to clear the path for competitors to race through to their 40s. The Alfa Romeo driver enters the second year of his contract at the team and will turn 41 before the circus reaches Abu Dhabi. Hamilton's father, Anthony, revealed he has asked his son for five to six more years in Formula 1. Hamilton himself isn't sure how long he can race for and appears to be taking it season by season. 

"Things are going very well right now, but no one can predict how long it will stay that way. I still feel incredibly fit and want to postpone the moment (retiring) as long as possible," he added.