Lewis Hamilton’s retirement will be different from the way Michael Schumacher bowed out

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen analysed by Coulthard

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Lewis Hamilton is currently the source of much retirement speculation in the wake of his failure to win the F1 Drivers’ Championship this year. If he does call it quits, then his retirement will certainly be different from the way Michael Schumacher bowed out. The second time, that is…

Hamilton was one lap away from overtaking Schumacher’s record of seven F1 titles in Abu Dhabi earlier in the month.

Yet the Brit was denied victory due to an incident with the safety car, with Max Verstappen reigning supreme.

Mercedes did launch two appeals to try and get the result overturned but stopped short a third, with Red Bull basking in the glory ever since.

Hamilton has been quiet since. There have been no Instagram posts, no interviews, no sign he’s decided what the future holds.

And that’s led to talk the 36-year-old may be about to quit, despite being contracted to Mercedes until 2023.

If Hamilton does decide to leave F1 behind, his retirement will be extremely different from the way Schumacher bowed out.

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Initially, the German quit the sport in 2006 after experiencing a couple of years of decline. Previously, he’d won five titles on the trot – a record that still stands.

Yet he then returned for another crack at the sport with Mercedes in 2010.

By that time, however, Schumacher was past his best. That’s certainly understandable, especially given how he’d had four years out of the sport.

Schumacher announced his decision to retire, this time for good, in 2012 after finishing 13th in the standings.

He recognised his own decline at the time, saying: “It is probably not a complete surprise to explain a little bit on how my thoughts are on this. Basically I have decided to retire by the end of the year.

“Although I am still able and capable to compete with the best drivers that are around, at some point it is good to say goodbye – and that is what I am doing this season. This time it might even be forever.

“During the past month, I was not sure if I still had the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on. It is not my style to do something that I am not 100 per cent feeling for.

“With today’s decision, I feel released from those doubts and in the end my ambition to fight for victories and the pleasure of driving is nourished by competitiveness.

“It is without doubt that we did not achieve our goals to develop a world championship fighting car.

“But it is also very clear that I can still be very happy about my overall achievements in the whole time of my career.”

However, should Hamilton call it a day, it would be different.

This is a man who was one lap away from history, from glory, from yet another title being added to his collection.

He isn’t a faded force. Instead, he’s somebody very much still in his prime.

Hamilton, at the age of 36, still has much to give. The likes of Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg and Jolyon Palmer have all insisted he should stay and take the fight to Verstappen next year.

While George Russell is poised to step up as his partner next year, and Verstappen is the sport’s new champion, Hamilton is very much the man to beat.

One lap, and one race, doesn’t change that.

Even Verstappen himself wants Hamilton to continue. He said after the chaos in Abu Dhabi: “I can understand being unhappy about what happened after the first few days.

“But you also understand that this is racing and these things sometimes happen. I think it even happened to him before (in 2008) so I think he knows that.

“I think Lewis should just look at what he has achieved,” said the Dutchman. “That should comfort him and encourage him to keep going, because he can still fight for the eighth title again next year.

“So I see no reason for him to give up or stop now.”

Hamilton and Schumacher are both F1 icons. It would be a shame for the Brit to walk away when there’s still one last dance, at least, in him.

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