F1 experts were wrong all this time about Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari contract

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Ferrari have never publicly confirmed the exact length of Lewis Hamilton’s contract since they signed the seven-time world champion in 2024.

Teams are increasingly secretive about their drivers’ deals, perhaps because there tend to be sensitive exit clauses at play.

Inevitably, details leak in the paddock, and reports in 2025 suggested that Hamilton signed a three-year deal. But now, a new clause has emerged.

When will Lewis Hamilton retire from Formula 1?

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Lewis Hamilton has a contract option for the 2028 season at Ferrari

A newsletter from The Race maps out the driver market landscape at the front of the grid for 2028. Max Verstappen will still be under contract at Red Bull, while Charles Leclerc’s recent Ferrari extension could run into the 2030s.

While Mercedes are committed to George Russell for 2027, neither he nor Kimi Antonelli is guaranteed a seat beyond that point. McLaren also have ‘options’ to make a change.

As for the second Ferrari seat, it turns out that Hamilton has an option to extend his contract, making it a four-year deal.

This explains why Hamilton sounded so bullish about his future in a press conference ahead of the Canadian GP in May.

“I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that’s not even on my thoughts.

“I’m already thinking of what will be next, planning for the next five years. But yeah, still plan to be here for some time.”

While 2023 (immediately before the negotiations) was Hamilton’s strongest year of the ground-effect era – he finished third in the world championship behind the all-conquering Red Bull drivers – it was still a risk for Ferrari to offer a potential four-year deal.

Hamilton could be racing for Ferrari until he’s 43, but that increasingly looks like an asset to the team rather than a hindrance. It looked as if his decline may be irreversible, but he has been completely revitalised under the new regulations.

Of course, this is potentially bad news for Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who has long been seen as the natural successor to Hamilton given his ties to Ferrari.