Mercedes Boss Shuts The Doors On Lewis Hamilton F1 Retirement Speculations, Confirming ‘Sealed’ 2023 Lineup

Lewis Hamilton and his struggles to drive the W-13 have been one of the major talking points this year. Although Mercedes are currently sitting third in the championship, they cannot match the front-runners Red Bull and Ferrari. While George Russell has started the season in a promising fashion, Hamilton is languishing down at 6th place in the championship. As a result, his hopes of an 8th World Championship are slipping away. And because of poor results, the Englishman has found himself under increased pressure.

Rumors about his retirement and his commitment have also sparked in recent months. However, team boss Toto Wolff remains optimistic that the seven time world champion will bounce back. The Austrian also revealed that Hamilton will continue with the Silver Arrows next season. “Lewis is fully motivated. Like all of us, he is looking for a way out of this situation, but that’s why we have no doubts that Lewis will drive for us until the end of 2023. There is no door open for us next year.”

“We’re a big family here and from the conversations we’re having with each other, there’s absolutely no indication that we won’t keep winning. But we don’t need to discuss any contract yet because everything is already sealed for 2023,” he told RTL. Notably, the W-13’s porpoising issue has been a major reason for the team’s struggles. Lewis Hamilton and Co. will hope that the Brackley-outfit can resolve the issues sooner than later.

Saturday’s qualifying in Baku proved to be a hard task for Hamilton once again. However, the Mercedes driver revealed he is struggling to perform lately because of the car’s extreme bouncing. Speaking after Friday’s free practice sessions, Hamilton said, “On Friday, we had so much bottoming I could not finish my long runs because my back was in a real mess.”

“Thank god for (physio) Angela, who gave me physio and acupuncture but I was still in quite a bit of pain on Saturday morning.” Mercedes’ porpoising issue was limited during the Spanish Grand Prix. But both Hamilton and Russell suffered from bouncing in the bumpy Monaco circuit and during this week’s Grand Prix in Azerbaijan. With Baku’s long straights, this issue could prove to be an enormous factor during the race as well. Nevertheless, Hamilton has shown his ability in the past to defy the odds and win a race. Can he repeat his heroics once again?