Lewis Hamilton offered a hilarious reaction on Sunday when asked if he planned to stay for another 100 F1 races. In France, the Mercedes driver became only the sixth driver in the history of his sport to reach the 300 Grand Prix mark, behind Kimi Raikkonen (353), Rubens Barrichello (326), Fernando Alonso (347), Jenson Button (309), and Michael Schumacher (308).
Lewis Hamilton offered a hilarious reaction on Sunday when asked if he planned to stay for another 100 F1 races. In France, the Mercedes driver became only the sixth driver in the history of his sport to reach the 300 Grand Prix mark, behind Kimi Raikkonen (353), Rubens Barrichello (326), Fernando Alonso (347), Jenson Button (309), and Michael Schumacher (308).
And Hamilton's remarkable race also represented his best showing of the season, finishing in P2 behind winner Max Verstappen. This despite him and his teammate George Russell being noticeably off the pace set by Ferrari and Red Bull in practice and qualifying.
The 37-year-old has now stood on the podium in four consecutive races after a distressing start to the season. In Saudi Arabia, there was widespread shock when Hamilton failed to get out of Q1, and there was further humiliation in Emilia Romagna when he took a lap from Verstappen in the race.
This sparked rumors that he might retire before the end of his current contract, which runs until the end of the 2023 season. That notion now seems remote, and in his post-race press conference at the Paul Ricard circuit, the seven-time world champion was asked about the possibility of amassing 400 GP wins, as Toto Wolff said he wants the seven-time champion to extend his contract by another three years beyond 2023.
His reaction showed a lot, with him dropping the microphone and looking at the reporter in an apparent show of disbelief. To his left, Dutchman Max Verstappen was also amused, smiling as he waited for Hamilton to respond. Hamilton finally hinted that he might well make that milestone, saying, "That's a lot of races. First of all, I just want to be grateful to get to this point, but I still feel refreshed and I still feel like I have a lot of fuel left in the tank."
"I'm enjoying what I'm doing, I'm very proud of it, and I'm enjoying coming in every day and working with this amazing group of people. I'm also enjoying working with the sport more than ever. People leading the sport and having great conversations about the directions we're going as a sport, so I'm enjoying it more than ever."
With the current schedule, Hamilton would need to complete this 2022 season and then sign for four more to reach 400. If he were to do that without taking a break from F1, he would be 41 when he reaches that mark.
At 40, Alonso is currently the most experienced driver on the grid. The record for the oldest man to compete in an F1 GP belongs to Louis Chiron, who was 58 when he took part in the Monaco race, his home GP, in 1958.
With the silverware continuing to show improved pace, the mark that probably occupies Hamilton's mind is an unprecedented eighth world title. His current record of seven is shared with Germany's Michael Schumacher.