"A career-ending move" - When Lewis Hamilton's father warned rivals about racing the Briton

In 2016, Nico Rosberg finally beat Lewis Hamilton on his third attempt to win his maiden world F1 championship, but immediately retired from the sport. Rosberg claimed that he was satisfied with his championship victory and felt he had nothing to prove. Hamilton’s father Anthony, however, felt differently, claiming that the any driver who goes up against his son would have to “plan their career” otherwise risk ending it.

Speaking in an interview with gp247.com in early 2017, Anthony Hamilton fired warning shots to his son’s rivals, saying:

“Anybody who goes up against Lewis [Hamilton] needs to have planned their career correctly because it could be a career-ending move when you go up against him.”

The senior Hamilton felt his son still had much to achieve in the sport, despite his age, and would return in 2017 with nothing but the desire to win.

Anthony Hamilton said:

“I personally think, while he’s getting older and more mature, he’s still actually heading towards the prime of his career. So, he is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. He only ever thinks about winning. He’s happy for Nico [Rosberg], like we all are to be quite honest. We’ve known him a long time and Nico has really worked hard. You need a little bit luck along the way, and he’s had that, but I think Lewis is just looking forward now to winning the championship back on his own merit.”

Anthony Hamilton’s comments would turn out to be incredibly accurate, as the then three-time F1 world champion went on to dominate the sport for the next five years to add four more titles to his tally.

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Lewis Hamilton would likely have already been an eight-time F1 world champion if not for misfortune in 2016

The 2016 F1 season witnessed one of the most intensely fought championship battles in the sport’s history, perhaps only trumped by the 2021 season. Although Nico Rosberg finally triumphed against his Mercedes team-mate in 2016, Lewis Hamilton fought the German tooth-and-nail until the last lap of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

If not for a series of misfortunes, including mechanical failures and bad strategy calls from his team, Hamilton could have potentially won his fourth world title that year, once again denying his childhood friend his first.

Yet, despite the title loss, the Briton picked himself up and returned in 2017 with a bang, and went on to beat a resurgent Ferrari, led by Sebastian Vettel.

Interestingly, since 2017, Lewis Hamilton has the lowest number of retirements to his name, and up until the 2019 German Grand Prix, he also held the longest streak in the points.