Neither Mercedes nor Lewis Hamilton have ruled out the possibility of the Englishman retiring from Formula 1 after the events that occurred in the last race of last season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton missed out on a record eighth world title after Red Bull rival Max Verstappen managed to overtake him on the last lap.
“I have been feeling good and great in the car this past couple of months, particularly at the end,” Hamilton said after the race. “If I’m honest we were still in the pandemic and I just really wish everyone to stay safe and have a good Christmas with all their families and we’ll see about next year.” Let’s take a look at the main candidates to replace Hamilton at Mercedes in the event the 37-year-old decides to retire ahead of the 2022 season.
Esteban Ocon
Having been part of Mercedes’ young driver programme in the past, the 25-year-old Alpine driver managed to grab his first F1 win in 2021 at the Hungary GP. He could be one of the candidates to succeed Hamilton next season. The talented AlphaTauri driver has been hailed for his qualifying pace and if there is something that would prevent him from joining Mercedes, it is his current relationship with rivals Red Bull.
Valtteri Bottas
Despite having reached an agreement to join Alfa Romeo after the retirement of Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate from last year would relish the opportunity to compete for the F1 title with a fast car next season.
