As for whether he would be open at having a shot at it in the years to come, he made it clear that when he quits F1, he’ll be walking away from racing as a whole. He said: “Look, when I finish in Formula 1, I will stop driving to do other things. I don’t have any desire to continue racing.”
On to more pertinent subjects, Hamilton was asked for his thoughts on the pecking order following the first pre-season test. While Mercedes topped the lap charts with 610 to Ferrari’s 598, the general consensus is that when it comes to speed, Ferrari are looking the best.
Hamilton says he’s not bothered by the time sheets. “I haven’t seen or learnt anything because I haven’t looked at the rest of the cars. I haven’t even taken notice of the times so other drivers have posted, it’s not my job. I don’t know the times of the other drivers, not Sebastian nor Ricciardo. It’s just not important for me now. I have to be positively critical to the team and help in the direction we’re all going in.”
As for whether he is ‘satisfied’ with his W10, he said: “In general I don’t usually feel satisfied at all because you’re always improving at this time.
“The first time you drive in a new car it’s simply entering the track and looking if the temperatures and tyres are good. What was positive was that we got better with each day.”