Lewis Hamilton to retire after F1 2024? “Completely absurd” says Ralf Schumacher.
Six-time F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher was having none of it when presented with an “absurd” rumour about how Lewis Hamilton would end his career after the F1 2024 campaign.
Hamilton is set to realise a “childhood dream” when he races in the iconic Ferrari red from F1 2025, but before then, he has an important final season with Mercedes to navigate, the team with which he has won six of his seven World Championship titles.
Lewis Hamilton retirement claim ‘completely absurd’
But Hamilton finds himself with a serious challenge on his hands in F1 2024 in the form of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who currently boasts a 7-1 lead over Hamilton in the qualifying head-to-head, while Russell has scored 54 points to Hamilton’s 42.
And when speaking to Formel1.de, it was put to Schumacher that there are rumours floating around that Hamilton could retire at the end of F1 2024, rather than make that move to Ferrari, thus giving him a ‘face-saving exit’ from his Ferrari deal.
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“Completely absurd,” was the response from Schumacher.
He added: “Because of course the contract is far too big, far too much money is involved.”
Another layer to this rumour – that Ferrari are questioning whether they made the right call in signing Hamilton to replace Carlos Sainz – was also rubbished by Schumacher, who branded Hamilton’s signature a “super clever” move from the Scuderia, as he stressed that Hamilton is “still a first-class driver.”
Speculation continues to mount that Hamilton could be joined in taking the Ferrari plunge by departing Red Bull F1 design guru Adrian Newey, who has knocked back multiple approaches from the team in the past.
And Hamilton has already made it clear that he would “very much” like to join forces with Newey for the first time in his F1 career at Ferrari.
Asked by media at the Miami GP how much he would like Newey to join him at Ferrari, Hamilton replied:
“Adrian’s got such a great history, track record and has just done an amazing job through his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has and I think he would be an amazing addition.
“I think they’ve already got a great team. They’re already making huge progress, strides forwards. Their car is quicker this year. But yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him.
“If I was to do a list of people that I’d love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it.”
Hamilton will find Monaco Grand Prix winner Charles Leclerc on the other side of the garage upon joining Ferrari.
