Quitting? 'Hamilton has many, many years left in F1'

For a long time last winter it seemed uncertain whether Lewis Hamilton would continue in Formula 1. Finally, the former champion is back in his Mercedes every race weekend. But unlike in previous years, he does not (yet) play a significant role in the battle for victories.

The story is well known by now: Mercedes has the necessary problems with the porpoising and especially because of that the car is anything but competitive. The gap to Ferrari and Red Bull seems enormous. It is easy to imagine that someone like Hamilton at this point in his career does not fancy battles in the middle or even the back of the field, as he did in Bahrain.

Team boss Toto Wolff of Mercedes let the English newspaper The Independent know that there is that there is no question of any diminished motivation on Hamilton's part. "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 now and he has many, many years to go," Wolff believes.

In Australia, Hamilton will start from fifth position. The Briton is still suffering from the porpoising, but thinks he has a chance for a podium finish. No doubt it helps that Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is only starting from position nine.