When a former world champion speaks, the paddock listens. Damon Hill’s comments about Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have raised serious questions about how much longer the sport’s biggest names will remain on the grid.
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill suggests that both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will retire at the end of the 2026 season. Hill even indicates that Hamilton could leave the sport before the end of the year, as he has lost the passion that always characterized him.
Both drivers are relying on a strong 2026 season, which marks the end of their current F1 contracts. However, Hill is confident that at least one of them will no longer be present when the end of the year arrives; he even suggests that Hamilton could have left the sport sooner than expected.
“The joy has completely disappeared from this sport,” Hill said during an interview with The Race. "The big question is whether Fernando or Lewis—or both—will be playing their last season. We've reached a turning point where everything points to this being the end."
The former champion added: "Unless Ferrari comes up with an extraordinary car or Adrian Newey works his magic at Aston Martin, giving Fernando a real chance to fight for the title, one of them will have to leave.
“They can't share the success. If motivation continues to decline, especially in Lewis' case, I can't imagine him finishing the season. It makes no sense for him to keep racking up points for Ferrari if Charles Leclerc is constantly beating him,” he said.
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What's going on with Hamilton and Alonso in F1?
In 2024, during his final season with Mercedes, Hamilton secured two victories but finished 22 points behind his teammate George Russell. The following year proved challenging, as he suffered his worst points deficit to a teammate and lost 86 points to Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari debut.
On the other hand, despite outperforming Lance Stroll, Alonso has gone through difficult times. In the last two seasons, the star has not returned to the podium, despite having made eight additional appearances in 2023. In addition, he has not won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, while Hamilton experienced a season without podium finishes, something unprecedented in his successful career.
Hamilton, the younger of the two, has achieved great success in recent times, winning his last title in 2020, while Alonso did so in 2006. Looking ahead to the 2026 season, the pressure is particularly on Hamilton, as his performance last season was insufficient, especially in qualifying sessions. Ferrari will not hesitate to change drivers if they believe they can obtain the same level of performance at a lower cost.
Despite the difficulties in 2025, Alonso outperformed his teammate Lance Stroll in every qualifying session in all 24 races and finished 23 points ahead in the championship. In that sense, Aston Martin is more dependent on Alonso's performances, while Ferrari demands Hamilton's immediate results.
Both drivers are eagerly awaiting their teams to provide them with more competitive machinery in 2026, which will allow them to fight for positions on race weekends.