F1 wants Hamilton to race forever – Carey

Formula 1 would like Lewis Hamilton to race 'forever', but is also excited by the challenge he faces from young drivers, according to chairman and CEO Chase Carey.

Hamilton wrapped up a sixth drivers’ championship in 2019, leaving him just one short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of seven. Hamilton is also just seven short of the German’s win record, and Carey said while the reigning champion is a huge asset to F1 as a superstar who transcends the sport, he also sees exciting potential in the younger generation such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc who are now fighting against him.

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“I hope Lewis races forever!” Carey said. “He’s obviously an incredible champion, his success speaks for itself, and sport’s built on heroes. He’s a hero second to none in our sport, we hope he races forever – he probably won’t – but he has some challenges ahead of him and we’d like to see him tackle those.

“But this year in particular, we’ve got an incredible array of young talent. Certainly I don’t have the tenure Jean (Todt, FIA president) and others do, but the breadth and depth of the talent coming into the sport… As Max has been racing a few years we forget how young he is, but whether it’s Max, Charles, Lando (Norris), we have an incredible future for those drivers, and I hope they get a chance to battle for Lewis.”

Carey also believes that the new FIA ladder that creates a clear path through Formula 3 and Formula 2 to F1 will further help to promote young talent.

“It’s why we work so hard to create a proper pyramid for Formula 3 and Formula 2. When we came in there was GP2, Formula 3, GP3 – we had sort of fragmented, not well coordinated races feeding into Formula 1.

“We tried to create a proper pyramid. We want to try and strengthen that pyramid and make sure it provides opportunity for drivers to emerge, become champions and continue to compete, but [also] for young drivers to get into it. I can’t think of a year that has a more exciting breadth and depth of young drivers coming into this sport.”