Lewis Hamilton reveals whether he’ll still attend F1 races when he retires from the sport

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After enjoying one of the most, if not the most, successful careers in F1, there are question marks regarding what Lewis Hamilton plans to do after he decides to call it quits on his driving career.

Hamilton is contracted to Ferrari until the end of 2026, and the ball is in the seven-time world champion’s court if he does want to trigger an option in the deal to continue racing for the iconic racing outfit in 2027.

With the way things currently are for the British driver, he will need a serious upturn in results for his desire to carry on racing to remain aflame.

The 2025 season has been largely unfruitful for Hamilton, whose move to Ferrari brought a wave of expectations along with it.

Of course, he is yet to announce his future plans for the sport, and that won’t come until the closing stages of his agreement with Ferrari, but he has made his feelings clear on returning to the paddock as a spectator following his exit as a driver.

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Lewis Hamilton doesn’t ‘imagine’ himself coming back to F1 after calling it quits

After closing the door on their driving careers in F1, many drivers in the past have enjoyed going into hibernation away from the public eye due to the strenuous schedule that the globe-trotting Formula 1 calendar offers.

For example, Sebastian Vettel has made fewer than a handful of appearances at Grands Prix since his retirement from F1 at the end of 2022.

The four-time world champion made an appearance at the 2024 Emilia Romagna GP in a show run, at the wheel of Ayrton Senna’s iconic McLaren MP4/8, as well as a cameo at the Brazilian GP, in the same year, to pay homage to his idol.

In a recent interview with French sports publication L’Equipe, Hamilton shared his hesitancy about emulating Vettel and returning to the paddock after hanging up his overalls, saying, “I don’t know if I really want to come back. I don’t imagine myself coming to a circuit and staying in the garage.”

However, he did leave the prospect up in the air, adding, “I see that others do it a bit, maybe after a month, it will change, and I will be able to just come and enjoy it, maybe I will be disconnected and it’ll be fine.”

READ MORE: The seven best drives of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes career ahead of 2025 Ferrari move

Lewis Hamilton’s comments also rule out a potential management role at a Formula 1 team

Many F1 world champions have gone on to try their hand at management in the sport following the conclusion of their driving careers, with some being successful and others not reaching quite the same heights.

Niki Lauda was an integral part of Mercedes’ success journey from the new boys on the grid to world champions in the space of four years. Lauda was also instrumental in securing Hamilton’s signature for the Silver Arrows ahead of the 2013 season.

However, the comments do seem to rule out a similar role for Hamilton in the future, but he may be interested in going down the ownership route in the future.

He has previously expressed interest in owning a MotoGP team in the past, something that has returned to the spotlight since Guenther Steiner’s acquisition of the Tech3 racing outfit in recent weeks.

The Ferrari driver currently owns a minority stake in the Denver Broncos, an NFL franchise owned by the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group.

Hamilton also founded his own motorsport team in the off-road electric SUV championship, Extreme E. The team found some success, winning titles in 2022, but the category was abandoned at the end of 2024 with no plans for it to resume.