Lewis Hamilton admits that he is glad to have "things in the pipeline" in preparation for his life after F1. The seven-time World Champion is not considering retirement from the sport just yet, having previously voiced his hopes of signing a new multi-year deal with Mercedes when his current contract expires at the end of 2023. Throughout his time in Formula 1, Hamilton has been known for pursuing various interests away from the race track including fashion, music and activism. This is something that the Briton believes can be a positive factor for sportspeople to have.
Hamilton reflects on issues of retirement
"When I've spoken to other athletes, we focus so much on being the best you can be and that one thing that the other things that you also love, if it's playing an instrument or if it's writing scripts, everything falls away," Hamilton told the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast. "How can you compartmentalise staying in the zone and the focus lane, but also building up some of those other skills and discovering other passions? A lot of people put you in a box and say, 'You can only do one thing.'" Hamilton thinks that athletes who have other passions to fall back on may cope better with retirement from their profession when it comes. "I've seen and spoken to some people that are active and retired," he continued. "A lot of them say, particularly when they retired, that everything kind of fell apart. Everything fell to the ground, they had nothing to back it up with and they hadn't discovered what they're doing next. "So then they go through this emotional journey of discovery, but it takes time."
Why Hamilton is grateful for other interests
Given that he has already focussed on different pursuits outside of F1, Hamilton feels that he has different things to turn to when the day of his retirement comes. "I'm trying to learn from those things [that others have been through] and apply them, and find the other things that I'm passionate about," the Mercedes driver said. "I generally feel today that I have lots of things in the pipeline [so] that, when I do stop, [I'm] going to be so grateful, that I have something better than I'm moving on to." However, Hamilton does not see himself giving up racing entirely. "I have no doubts that me and my dad will always have to go the go-kart track or something," he added. "I'm always going to be competitive. That's literally a strain in my DNA that's just never going to shift. We're competitive at everything."
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