‘I find it stressful’: Lewis Hamilton reveals he doesn’t like driving outside of F1 | Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has made the chilling admission that he doesn’t like driving on normal roads because he finds it too stressful.

In a Vanity Fair magazine article published on Monday, the seven-time Formula One world champion said: “I just think I find it stressful. I try not to do things that don’t enrich my life.”

While cruising the busy streets near Nice in his Mercedes Smart, Hamilton told his interviewer, “Look, we’re on these streets, anything can happen.” Later, as the traffic built up, he said more : “It’s stressful for me now. This street is crazy. There’s so much going on here. I’ll turn around in a moment.”

Hamilton also admitted he had considered leaving F1 after the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year when a controversial interpretation of the rules led to Max Verstappen denying the British driver an eighth championship. “I don’t know if I can really put into words the feeling I had,” said the Briton.

“I remember just sitting there in disbelief. And realizing that I need to unbuckle my belts, I need to get out of there, I need to climb out of this thing, I need to find the strength. I had no strength. And it was one of the toughest moments, I would say, that I’ve had in a long, long time.”

The decisions of the now-resigned FIA Race Director Michael Masi, which resulted in a late safety car being deployed and giving his closest rival the advantage, left Hamilton stunned and he did not speak about the incident for weeks. “Of course I thought about whether I wanted to continue.”

The Mercedes driver is signed with his team until the end of next year and said he is considering extending his stay in the sport beyond that. Hamilton has had to settle for being the best of the rest throughout this campaign, with Verstappen seemingly on course to retain his crown.

But the 37-year-old said the prospect of an unrivaled eighth championship pushes him to keep going in the sport.

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about an extension,” he said. “I’m still on the mission, I still love driving, I’m still challenged by it. So I don’t really feel like I have to give it up any time soon.”

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement on the eve of last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but Hamilton is unlikely to follow suit any time soon.

“It doesn’t make me think about my future, but it reminds me that I’m in that part of my career where people I dreamed up and raced for for so long are going to start stop doing it,” Hamilton said. “Before you know it, Fernando Alonso won’t be here and who’s there after that? I think I will be the eldest.

“But I’m thinking about how I can improve this car, what steps we need to take for this team to win again, what the roadmap is to win another world championship and what we need to do for everyone in this sport to be better are matched in terms of diversity.”