Mexican GP: Lewis Hamilton wants to beat Red Bull, ready to sign new deal

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes still have a lot of winning left to do, and is not ready to walk away from the sport until he brings his team back to the top. The British driver's current contract expires in 2023, but he is keen to remain in Formula 1 in 2024 and beyond with a multi-year deal planned.

Red Bull Racing has blown away the competition in 2022 to wrap up both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships with three races to spare. The Austrian team brought an end to Mercedes' dominance, with Max Verstappen winning back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

Hamilton and Mercedes have had no answer to their main rivals from last season in the new era of Formula 1. The Silver Arrows were unable to maximise the new aero regulations as well as Red Bull or Ferrari, and have been trailing their main rivals since the start of the season.

Since the controversial conclusion of the 2021 season, there have been number of questions raised about Hamilton's future in the sport. Especially, since the Briton has not slowed in his pursuit of other interests away from the track. The Mercedes driver, however, made it clear that racing in F1 remains his top priority.

"I think it will be a multi-year contract. There's like this whole thing of [me] retiring that's always lingering around and honestly, I don't like the idea of it and I don't feel like I'm there," Hamilton said. "We have a lot more work to do as a team, as individuals within the team, we have a lot more to do as a sport and I want to be a part of that shifting."

Apart from fighting for race wins with Mercedes, Hamilton is also keen to work with the F1 ownership to bring more diversity and equal work opportunity to the sport. The British racer wants to see more women in Formula 1, not only as drivers, but also in the engineering and design departments.

"I'm an ally to the sport and the work on the track and off the track. We're talking about diversity, we're getting more and more women into the sport, it's not just about drivers," he continued. "It's about finding out what are those barriers are to women getting into a lot of the jobs. So there is more work to do."