Lewis Hamilton has said that only he will decide when his “masterpiece is finished” in an apparent dismissal of suggestions that the Mercedes driver should retire.
The 37-year-old has endured a difficult start to the 2022 season, with Mercedes’ W13 car struggling to match early leaders Ferrari and Red Bull.
The seven-time world champion declared his title ambitions over after finishing outside of the points at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
That led Helmut Marko, head of driver development at Red Bull, to quip that Hamilton should perhaps have exited the sport at the conclusion of last season, when he was narrowly pipped to the title by Max Verstappen under controversial circumstances.
Hamilon, however, has now apparently responded to Marko and others suggesting he may be beyond his peak, claiming to still be crafting his “masterpiece”.
Hamilton was lapped by race winner Max Verstappen during the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, an illustration of just how far off he is from his former title rival.
George Russell, newly installed as Hamilton’s teammate ahead of the season, has out-performed his compartriot, and is the only driver on the grid to finish in the top five at every race so far.
That leaves Russell fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings and more than 20 points ahead of his teammate.
Hamilton has insisted he remains happy at Mercedes as the team look to make improvements before the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, though admits it could be a “painful year”.
“I’m out of it, for sure,” Hamilton said of his title hopes. “There’s no question about that, but I’ll still keep working as hard as I can to try and somehow pull it back together somehow.
“There is nowhere else I want to be. Just because we have hit a rough patch, it is not in my DNA to back out.
“We can fix this. It is going to be a painful year that we are going to have to ride out together.”
