LEWIS HAMILTON will stay in Formula One for years to come, says his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
Many wondered if the 37-year-old would see out his two-year deal, worth around £80million, after controversially missing out on a record eighth world crown last season.
But Wolff rubbished suggestions the 37-year-old Brit could throw in the towel and says he has plenty more left in the tank.
Wolff said: “You can only walk away if you don’t like what you do any more but Lewis loves doing this.
“Lewis is in fantastic shape, his lifestyle is hugely disciplined and he has many, many years to go.
“And isn’t it a great challenge for him? He was at McLaren, then went to Mercedes when it wasn’t great and has won six titles. The team has got it wrong now, but he can be a part of the rise again.”
Read More Sport
Mercedes have dominated the sport since 2014 enabling Hamilton to become the grid’s most decorated star.
But a new rulebook this season has seen the Silver Arrows struggle to keep pace with Red Bull and Ferrari.
Wolff says he is committed to helping the team make it a three-way title fight, adding: “I don’t sleep, and that is not because of jet lag.
“I am not sleeping because I am beating myself up on how to get on top of these things. It is a miserable state of mind.
“But you cannot be miserable. I have to look for solutions and I am trying to improve myself in order to extract more performance — and it’s the same for Lewis.
“I see an upbeat Lewis when we start the day and then a downbeat Lewis when the session has gone worse than expected. I have had to stop thinking in terms of sessions and weekends, but about years.
“There will be years like this one where we have really bad weekends, but these weekends are necessary to learn.
“Are we going to fight for the world championships? My expectation from a pure mathematical stance is no, we are too slow.
“This needs to be a blip and not a long-term downward spiral. It will be a blip, and that is why we need to get it right now – not on the stopwatch, but mentally.”
