Lewis Hamilton “playing with fire” by making Fernando Alonso age dig, claims former F1 champion

Former F1 champion Damion Hill has stated that Lewis Hamilton should be wary of talking about age after his friendly jibe at Fernando Alonso at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso shared the podium during the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix last week. The ex-teammates gave us a brand-new on-track duel. Alonso had an overtake to complete in his Aston Martin after Hamilton of Mercedes overtook him for P2 at the start.

In the end, Alonso completed the maneuver and finished in second place, four and a half seconds behind Hamilton. During the post-race interview, Hamilton jokingly said that it was due to his age Alonso had a poor start.

After the Canadian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso picked up their playful jabs again in front of the media. However, 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill thinks Hamilton should be careful when bringing up the subject of age.

“I thought he was playing with fire a little bit with the friendly dig he gave Fernando Alonso about jumping him at the start, saying that it’s because he’s a bit old now,” Hill said during an interview.

Regarding driver experience, Hill claims that Alonso has served as a career motivation for Hamilton up to this point. He demonstrated to the seven-time champion that there is no upper age limit for competing at the highest level in Formula 1.

Hamilton's current Mercedes contract expires at the end of F1 in 2023.

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Updates on Lewis Hamilton's contract extension

Lewis Hamilton's future in F1 is still under question. His current contract with Mercedes is set to expire by the end of the 2023 season and neither party have made any comment regarding the extension.

F1 Grand Prix of Canada

According to Sky Sports F1 analyst and commentator David Croft, an announcement on Lewis Hamilton's future with Mercedes will be made at the 2023 British Grand Prix.

Croft thinks that there are a number of other non-driving aspects of the deal that will need to be agreed upon. This will be the reason for the delay rather than the money. He also stated taht Silverstone would be the logical location for the team to make the announcement that Hamilton will be staying past the end of 2023.

Hamilton has repeatedly reiterated his commitment to Mercedes throughout the season so far. But he recently acknowledged that the variety of aspects of his agreement make it complicated to accept in full and go beyond a simple driving contract. Now it is only a matter of time until Mercedes and Hamilton release a statement.