Hamilton says he’s 'only just getting started' and is motivated to stay in F1

How long will Lewis Hamilton race on in F1? It's become a big question, what with the Briton having yet to sign a new Mercedes deal. But after equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles in Turkey, Hamilton sent out an ominous message to his rivals, saying he is “only just getting started” and feels like he has more work to achieve in Formula 1…

The 35-year-old, who has now won six of the last seven world championships, won for the 10th time in 14 attempts in 2020 in Turkey with a sensational drive to secure the crown.

READ MORE: The GOAT? Our writers on whether Hamilton is the greatest, if 2020 is his best season, and more

The Mercedes driver has fought on multiple fronts this year, dovetailing his fight for diversity and equality plus interests in fashion and music – amid the coronavirus pandemic - with one of his most dominant ever campaigns on track.

And Hamilton isn’t finished yet. Beyond more success on track, he wants to use his platform to shine a light to several issues, including human rights and the push for sustainability.

“I feel like I’m only just getting started, it’s really weird,” said Hamilton. “I feel physically in great shape and mentally, this year’s been I know for so many people out there, this year’s been the hardest year probably for millions of people, and I know things always look great here and on the big stage but it’s no different for us athletes. This has been a challenge that I didn’t know how to get through.

READ MORE: How Hamilton was able to turn around a 5-second qualifying deficit to win in Turkey by 30 seconds

“But with the help of great people around me, the help of my team, through the help of Team LH (his fans), I managed to keep my head above water and stay focused. I’m hopeful for a better year next year and I would love to stay.

“I feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do here. We’ve only just begun our work to hold ourselves accountable as a sport, to realise we’ve got to face and not ignore the human rights issues that are around the countries that we go to and how can we engage with those countries and help them, empower them to do more, to really change not 10 years from now, 20 years from now.

“I want to help Formula 1, I want to help Mercedes in that journey. And also moving to be more sustainable. As a sport, the whole thing, we need to be more sustainable, and I want to try and see if I can be part of that, at least the initial phase of that, for a little bit longer.”