Surprise news about Lewis Hamilton retiring comes as Ferrari faces tough times
Fernando Alonso is the only driver older than Lewis Hamilton on the 2026 Formula One grid. At 44, Alonso races for Aston Martin, while Hamilton, 41, drives for Ferrari. Since both are over 40, people often ask if they’ll retire soon.
So far, neither has said they plan to stop racing anytime soon—until now. Hamilton has raced for three top F1 teams: McLaren, Mercedes, and now Ferrari, winning World Championships with two of them. He dreamed of becoming the most successful F1 driver ever, but that goal might be slipping away. Some journalists think this could be his last season, meaning he might share the record of seven World Championships with Michael Schumacher.
On the NOS-F1 podcast, journalist Louis Dekker said, “Ferrari is disappointing me. Apart from some great starts, they can’t really fight for wins. They were supposed to be the team to beat, but McLaren is ahead again. I’d bet Hamilton will announce his retirement at Silverstone at the end of this season.” Jeroen Bleekemolen agreed, adding, “He will have to decide sooner or later, and maybe he already has.”
Hamilton’s time at Ferrari hasn’t been easy. He hasn’t won a Grand Prix since moving from Mercedes to Ferrari, with his last victory in Belgium on July 28, 2024, while still with Mercedes. He wanted to win an eighth World Championship with Ferrari, but that looks tough after a slow start this season—he’s currently fifth in the standings.
Still, if Hamilton believes Ferrari is getting stronger and could challenge for the title next year, he might decide to stay and keep fighting to become the undisputed best driver in F1 history.