Hamilton shuts down retirement talk with 2027 deal

Lewis Hamilton used Formula 1’s Canadian Grand Prix media day to shut down retirement speculation, saying it is “not even on my thoughts,” confirming he is under contract with Ferrari through 2027, and declaring: “I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it.”

Speaking in Montreal, Hamilton made his position unusually direct after weeks of outside noise about whether his Ferrari struggles could push him toward the exit. “Yep. I’m still in contract. So everything’s 100% clear to me,” he said. “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.”

He also took aim at the commentary around him. “There’s a lot of people that are trying to retire me, and that’s not even on my thoughts,” Hamilton said. “I’m already thinking of what will be next. And planning for the next five years. But yeah, I still plan to be here for some time.”

The remarks were a response to a run of speculation that Hamilton, now 41, could stop at the end of 2026. That talk had been fed by comments from former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, now a Sky Sports Germany pundit, who suggested Hamilton should “give young people a chance,” and by reports and podcast-driven claims that he could announce a retirement plan at Silverstone.

Hamilton’s denial matters because the rumors have grown out of a difficult Ferrari spell rather than any clear sign from the driver or team that an exit was coming. His 2025 campaign was described as the first grand prix season of his career without a podium, and although his second year with Ferrari has started more brightly, he has still generally been behind team-mate Charles Leclerc. China remains the standout weekend in that run, with Hamilton taking his first Ferrari podium and, in one account, producing the only race so far in which he has beaten Leclerc.

By confirming the 2027 contract publicly and dismissing retirement talk so bluntly, Hamilton shifted the focus away from whether he is about to leave and back onto whether Ferrari can give him the car to fight properly. His message in Montreal was that he still sees himself as part of that project for the next few years, not at the end of it.