Sky Sports F1 pundit Natalie Pinkham has joked that Lewis Hamilton will be racing ‘into his 50s’ as he continues his search for an eighth World Championship. Toto Wolff, meanwhile, believes that his star driver has the potential to take the fight to Red Bull and Max Verstappen before the 2026 regulation changes come into effect.
Hamilton was one lap away from moving clear of fellow seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in the record books at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but a controversial call from race director Michael Masi sent the World Championship the way of his title rival Verstappen.
Since then, Hamilton has been unable to challenge Red Bull and Verstappen at the front of the field with the reigning champions looking untouchable with their 2023 challenger, the RB19. The 39-year-old is now winless in over two years but still holds hope that he and Mercedes can return to their former glory.
Speaking at the recent Autosport International event, Pinkham joked: “I think he’ll be driving until he’s 50,” before stating her real concerns with Mercedes’ development path heading into the 2024 season.
“I hope it will happen,” Pinkham explained when quizzed about an eighth World Championship. “The trouble is, I think that Mercedes have been a bit on the back foot with changing the direction of their concept. And I think it takes a regulation change maybe for them to come back to the fore.
“But look, we say, ‘Well, they were miles off’, [but] he still finished third in the championship and Mercedes finished second, so not necessarily as far off, but they just didn’t look like challenging for a win in 2023.”
While Pinkham had concerns regarding Mercedes’ shift in design philosophy over the winter, team principal Wolff was much more optimistic about Hamilton’s chances of ending his wait for the record-breaking world title.
Asked by The Telegraph whether or not he could do so before the regulations change in 2026, Wolff responded: “Always believe it’s possible. You cannot start the season with an attitude of ‘This is not going to be possible.’
“We saw last year with McLaren, what a huge step they made with a single upgrade. We’ve signed a two-year deal with Lewis, and we owe it to him, to George [Russell] and to all [of] the team to give it our full attention in 2024 and 2025. I think it’s possible.”
