Lewis Hamilton cools concerns he could RETIRE from Formula One after woeful start to the season

Lewis Hamilton has moved to quell any speculation that this season in Formula One could be his last.

The Mercedes driver has endured a difficult start to the 2022 campaign and is languishing in seventh in the driver standings on 28 points. Leader Charles Leclerc is already on 86.

Hamilton, 37, headed into this season on the back of an agonising and controversial last-day title defeat at the hands of rival Max Verstappen and is in pursuit of a record-setting eighth world title.

Lewis Hamilton has moved to silence concerns he could retire after a difficult start to 2022

Hamilton has struggled this season but team-mate George Russell (left) has impressed

His interests away from the track have also sparked interest lately, after it emerged he is contributing around £10m to Sir Martin Broughton’s £2.5bn bid to buy Chelsea from Roman Abramovich. There could be news this week on whether that offer is chosen as the preferred one to take the London club on. 

His involvement seemed to suggest to some that he was turning his attention to life after racing but taking to Instagram on Wednesday night, Hamilton wrote: ‘Working on my masterpiece, I’ll be the one to decide when it’s finished’ alongside a picture of him in the Mercedes garage.

Hamilton finished 13th in the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix while his Mercedes team-mate George Russell managed a fourth-placed finish. 

He was also lapped by Verstappen of Red Bull, prompting Red Bull team advisor Helmut Marko to quip to Sky Sports: ‘He was lapped by us. Maybe he is thinking he should have stopped last year!’

Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes, offered Hamilton an apology for the car he was driving in that race but Nico Rosberg, a former team-mate of the Brit, has told him to look closer to home.

Hamilton finished a lowly 13th at the recent the recent Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

The 37-year-old Mercedes driver is bidding to win a record-setting eighth world championship

He told Sky Sports F1: ‘Toto was playing the mental game, which is very smart on his behalf.

‘Mercedes are taking the blame themselves, really trying to support Lewis mentally, lifting him up and saying, “hey, Lewis, it’s not your doing, it’s really on us”. That’s very smart because it’s not quite the truth.

‘Let’s not forget Russell is in P4 with that same car, so Lewis definitely had a big role to play in that poor result this weekend.

‘Russell still managed to get P4 out of it with a brilliant weekend, so there was more in that car.’