Lewis Hamilton hasn’t won a race with Mercedes since the start of 2022.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton has remained with the Mercedes outfit for over a decade now, winning six championships with the team. The Briton has a contract with the Brackley-based team to drive for them until his early 40s, hoping to win an eighth championship.

However, former F1 team manager and F1 pundit Pete Windsor believes otherwise about Hamilton’s future in Formula 1. After getting outperformed by McLaren in the second half of 2023 in a season where Mercedes could rack up no wins, Windsor claims that Hamilton will not stick around if further poor performances arise from the team, and exit the squad.

Getting beaten by McLaren with the same engine, the customer engine, won’t be very good for them…Lewis will probably leave if it’s another terrible year. I would guess [he will] probably just say, ‘Enough is enough. I can’t imagine he’ll think, ‘Oh, wait till 26 now and getting a half-electric Formula One car.Windsor said via his YouTube channel.

2026 will see the next major opportunity for Mercedes to close the gap to their rivals ahead. With new regulations coming with revolutionary new steps to a sustainable step in Formula 1, Mercedes can take advantage of the new regulations to close the gap completely.

Justin Rose gets up-and-down from greenside bunker at Sony OpenJustin Rose gets up-and-down from greenside bunker at Sony

Lewis Hamilton holds numerous records in Formula 1, including the record for most podiums, most poles, and notably most race victories at 103. Although Hamilton has remained unable to extend this record in the past two years, his career remains illustrious.

Lewis Hamilton (via IMAGO)

One record Hamilton has failed to achieve is the record for most world championship wins, currently tied for seven with Michael Schumacher. Hamilton tried in 2021 but failed as Max Verstappen beat him, and Pete Windsor believes this will remain the case. Windsor claimed that Hamilton’s chances will continue to be minimal as long as Verstappen remains in Red Bull.

Has Lewis got the chance of winning another World Championship? I hope he has, because I still feel terrible about what happened in Abu Dhabi, but I’m not sure that he will get that opportunity as long as Max is there at Red Bull to be honest.

Hamilton has a contract with Mercedes to continue driving for them, but with Red Bull as dominant as they are as well as having started car development earlier, Mercedes will have to work very hard to help their driver contest for the World Championship again.