{"id":494355,"date":"2026-02-23T15:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/494355\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:41:09","slug":"lewis-hamilton-drops-bombshell-about-f1-future-after-bahrain-testing-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/494355\/","title":{"rendered":"Lewis Hamilton Drops Bombshell About F1 Future After Bahrain Testing Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4q\">Heading into 2026, the attention seemed to be almost entirely on how strong Mercedes looked.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4t\">With rival teams&#8217; drivers saying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/max-verstappen-warns-2026-wont-be-easy-as-he-reveals-which-f1-team-looks-strongest\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">how strong the German team looked<\/a>, and a roster featuring the ever-consistent George Russell and hyped-up youngster Kimi Antonelli, the Silver Arrows were assumed by many to be the team to beat this season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4w\">But Ferrari, who have gone somewhat under the radar, surprised F1 fans around the world when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/ferrari-reveals-genius-rear-wing-feature-other-f1-teams-can-t-easily-copy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lewis Hamilton demonstrated their rotating rear wing<\/a> on the second day of testing, with the rumored advantages this brings making the Italian giants a force to contend with as well.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4z\">If Ferrari is the true frontrunner, this could be huge for both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, but especially the latter, who struggled mightily in 2025. And amidst discussions whether he might retire by the year&#8217;s end, the seven-time champion issued huge news on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton &#8216;incredibly lucky&#8217; to be in F1, confirms he&#8217;s &#8216;not going anywhere&#8217;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kj5fstdf1gexkc8e8g.jpg\" alt=\"Lewis Hamilton might have hoped for more success at Ferrari in his opening season.\" title=\"Lewis Hamilton might have hoped for more success at Ferrari in his opening season.\" width=\"1350\" height=\"759\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"5c\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Lewis Hamilton might have hoped for more success at Ferrari in his opening season. | Scuderia Ferrari<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5g\">When Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes and transferred across to rivals Ferrari, it was met with shock. With that shock, though, came optimism about what the legendary Brit could do at perhaps what is Formula One&#8217;s most iconic team, but 2025 was complicated for Hamilton.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5j\">He ended the season <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/final-f1-standings-as-lando-norris-becomes-world-champion-in-abu-dhabi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sixth in the standings<\/a>, went without a podium for the first season ever in his career, and finished 94 points behind team-mate Leclerc.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5m\">Now at 41, it has been rumored Hamilton may hang up the overalls after 2026, but the veteran has taken to Instagram in a new post to clarify where his career is at.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5p\">Most of the caption is in relation to his experience with the Ferrari while testing, but the final paragraph mentions his future within the sport:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m re-set and refreshed. I\u2019m not going anywhere, so stick with me. For a moment, I forgot who I was, but thanks to you and your support you\u2019re not going to see that mindset again. I know what needs to be done. This is going to be one hell of a season. I\u2019ve given everything to be here today. Let\u2019s go team!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5y\">The contract Ferrari and Hamilton have with each other expires at the end of 2026, but there is reportedly an option to extend until the end of 2027 or 2028, and &#8216;I&#8217;m not going anywhere&#8217; could be a hint that if this season goes well, Hamilton will extend with the Scuderia.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"61\">The Latest Formula 1 News<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"64\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/f1-ceo-reacts-to-major-criticism-over-2026-rules\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">F1 CEO Reacts To Major Criticism Over 2026 Rules<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"67\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/visa-renews-and-expands-both-formula-1-team-sponsorships-in-multi-year-deal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Visa Renews and Expands Both Formula 1 Team Sponsorships in Multi-Year Deal<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/f1\/news\/fia-announce-proposal-for-controversial-engine-rule-involving-mercedes\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FIA Announce Proposal for Controversial Engine Rule Involving Mercedes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading into 2026, the attention seemed to be almost entirely on how strong Mercedes looked. With rival teams&#8217;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-494355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}