Hamilton To Quit F1? Mercedes Driver Against Adding More Grand Prix's

Lewis Hamilton made it clear ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix that he is completely against adding more Grand Prix’s to the race calendar as he feels it is already very long.

Liberty Media, the new owners of Formula 1, are keen to expand the reach of the sport and are eyeing up races in various fan friendly destinations around the world. They have already increased the number of races to 21 after taking over and are keen to add further in the coming seasons.

It was recently revealed that Vietnam Grand Prix will be added from 2020 to become the fourth street circuit on the calendar and the new owners are said to be exploring further races in the United States in the future.

Hamilton revealed that the season already feels too long and believes as the years go by, the downtime the drivers get between two seasons is becoming shorter. He is not a big fan of adding more races as it gives everyone involved with the sport less time with their families as they have to start preparing for the new season almost immediately after one ends in November.

"It already feels like we've raced 25 this year," Hamilton said Thursday ahead of the Brazilian GP, as quoted on Sky Sports F1. "I don't think that's a good thing, personally. I'm someone that really loves racing, but the season is long and it's a long time away from families.”

The Mercedes driver, who was recently crowned F1 Drivers’ champion for the fifth time in his career, made it clear he is certainly not going to be around when the day comes that there will be 25 races in a season.

"The seasons are getting longer and the off-time is getting shorter. The turnaround is so short — you start preparing for next season often as soon as the season's done,” the Mercedes driver added. “That's very difficult. Then you've got to find a way of switching off and recovering at the same time.”

"I most likely am not going to be here when it gets to 25, that's for sure,” the Briton said, which can be either taken as a threat or that it will be a few years before 25 races become a reality.

Hamilton, meanwhile, remains focused on helping Mercedes win the Constructors’ championship despite being crowned the world champion in Mexico just under two weeks back.

The Silver Arrows team are the favorites to win the team title for the fifth consecutive season, but do have a battle on their hands from Ferrari. The Italian team are outsiders, but can take it to the final race in Abu Dhabi if they outscore Mercedes by 13 points in Brazil.

“I’m in the frame of mind that I still have races to win and the job isn’t done yet,” Hamilton said, as quoted on F1.com. “Right now, the focus is on making sure we secure this title in the next two races for the team. That’s the key, because, as we always talk about, there are over 1,000 people back at the factory that work so hard and that is the one that means most to them. That’s on my to-do list so we can collectively do that this weekend or next weekend.”