Lewis Hamilton has said there’s “no guarantee” he’ll stay in Formula 1 beyond this season.
On Sunday, the six-time world champion claimed his 93rd victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, this as Mercedes secured a seventh successive Constructors’ Championship at Imola.
However, before the weekend began, team boss Toto Wolff once again hinted that he’ll be leaving his current role at the end of the year.
“It would very much make me proud to see a team principal coming up, taking over from me, and doing a better job than I could have done at that time,” he was quoted by Crash.net.
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“This is a really interesting project for me but I don’t feel that I would let the team down.
“I’m a shareholder and I will stay with the team – that is what we’ve agreed with Daimler – but maybe then in another function. Whether it is CEO or chairman we haven’t figured out, but Daimler has very much given me the choice.
“But before I transition into a new role, I need to make sure that somebody else is doing the 23 races [as team boss] and I can enjoy myself in front of a Zoom screen.”
And it was when Hamilton was asked about those comments following Sunday’s race that he admitted his own future at the team remains uncertain.
“I don’t even know if I’m going to be here next year so it’s not a concern for me at the moment,” Lewis said.
“I understand and we have a lot of deep conversations, Toto and I, so I’m very, very aware of where he is mentally and we share and carry a lot of the weight together, I think.
“I’ve been here a long, long time. I can definitely understand wanting to pull back a little bit and give more time to family and those things.
“I don’t know who would replace [him] but he is a leader. He’s not going to put anyone that’s not going to be able to do the job, not going to be up to it, who’s not going to be geared up. He will find the right people.
“That’s why we have the success we have, he’s found the right people and put them in a position to be able to shine as bright as possible. He’s just empowered every single person in this team to be the best they can be. So he will find somebody that’s able to take on and continue.
“It’s not just one person, this team, it’s not just about one person. It’s a collective of a lot of people,” Hamilton insisted. “Toto doesn’t build the car. It’s a real team effort. But I’m supportive of him, whatever he wants to do, moving forwards.
“We’re in November and it’s crazy that Christmas isn’t that far away. Naturally, I feel great, I feel very strong and I feel like I could keep going for plenty of months.
“So I don’t know. You mentioned about Toto and shelf life, there’s multiple things that do stay on the top of my mind. I would like to be here next year but there’s no guarantee of that, for sure. There’s a lot that excites me of the ‘after-life’. So time will tell.”