Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 2030s career Rwanda Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has said he is built differently and could extend his Ferrari career into the 2030s. The seven-time world champion hopes to race at the new African Grand Prix in Rwanda.

Key takeaways

Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time Formula 1 world champion

He joined Ferrari for the 2025 season

His Ferrari contract runs until the end of 2027 with an option for one more year

F1 announced a 10-year deal with Rwanda for a race near Kigali in the early 2030s

Hamilton is one point behind George Russell in the drivers' standings

Lewis Hamilton has said he could extend his Formula 1 career into the 2030s. The Ferrari driver made the comments on Thursday ahead of this weekend's Mexico City Grand Prix. Sky Sports reported that he wants to race at the new African Grand Prix in Rwanda.

F1 recently announced a 10-year deal with Rwanda to host a race at a new circuit near Kigali, with the event expected to join the calendar in the early 2030s.

Hamilton turns 42 in January and will be 45 at the start of the 2030 F1 season, at which point it is far from certain the circuit in Rwanda will be ready.

Hamilton's current contract with Ferrari is understood to run until the end of the 2027 season, with the Brit holding an option to extend for a further year should he wish to do so.

" He added: "Of course, there are challenges up ahead that I can't foresee that come with age. But along this way, along this journey, there have been so many preconceived ideas about the fact that your reaction time drops off.

Did you see my reaction in the last race? My reaction is faster than some of the youngest people here.

" Hamilton said: "I guess as long as you're willing to sacrifice everything, which I continue to if I am right now, I can't say in four years whether I want to continue to do what I'm doing. But I love what I'm doing still now.

" He continued: "Whether or not I can compete at 44 with a 20-year-old, who knows? But at 41, I can compete with a 20-year-old. " Hamilton added: "But I never want to overstay my welcome in the sense of still not having the performance.

I don't want to be driving around with that really dropped off. My reaction has dropped off, my driving has dropped off, and my pace has dropped off, which everyone assumed last year. "

After a blockbuster move from Mercedes to Ferrari for the 2025 season, Hamilton's performances during his first year in red raised doubts, at times from the driver himself himself, over whether his skills were declining, but he has bounced back with a much-improved 2026 campaign.

Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton is a British racing driver who competes in Formula One for Ferrari.

Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles—tied with Michael Schumacher—and holds the records for most wins (106), pole positions (104), and podium finishes (208), among others. Hamilton is part of an extremely tight four-way battle for second place in the standings.

Antonelli's team-mate George Russell is in second, a point ahead of Hamilton, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen five points further back and the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc three more points adrift.

Hamilton insists his focus is on ensuring Ferrari seal second in the Constructors' Championship, in which they hold a 119-point over Red Bull and McLaren, with Mercedes 133 points clear out front.

Hamilton said: "I'm not going to say it [second in the Drivers' Championship] doesn't mean anything, but it's not something I fo"