Lewis Hamilton has been backed to win ten F1 World Championships before he retires by former F1 driver Martin Brundle.
Hamilton won his seventh World Championship in 2020 and, aged 35, he has been tipped to win three more and still be able to retire in his prime.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Brundle praised Hamilton's consistency and motivation, saying: "For me, Lewis hasn’t really had a true rival since [Nico] Rosberg retired.
"[Max] Verstappen has never quite had the machinery. There’s not really been a combo to challenge Lewis since 2016. Either in his own team or any other team, nobody’s quite had all the stars aligned.
"I think what has stood out about Lewis over the years is how few mistakes he makes, how complete he is, and clean. He’s a clean racing driver which I think is a very important point.
"His work rate is also incredible, and that’s something you hear up and down the paddock. And his motivation. When you’ve got all of that success, money, and a trophy cabinet like that, to keep the motivation is super impressive.
"And he just never makes a mistake. In wheel-to-wheel combat, in qualifying… he’s 35, going on 25. He just doesn’t fade, mentally or physically – his eyesight, his reactions, nothing has fallen away."
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Brundle then compared Hamilton to legendary driver Michael Schumacher and four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, claiming Hamilton will retire before he starts to 'fade'.
"If you’re going to start fading, you’re on a gentle slope. And he doesn’t appear to have started that slope yet," he added.
"Michael was in his 40s when he retired and he started making a lot of mistakes, and most of us did – you start having crashes at the end and you don’t know why that happened. That’s what it looks like Sebastian is to me, right now.
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"I think 10 championships and maybe 150 race victories is entirely doable [for Hamilton].
"My gut feeling is he’ll stop a year early rather than a year late. He’s not going to hang on until the bitter end for a few more dollars, or just to be a Formula 1 driver, and nor will he need to.
"He’s obviously got other ambitions in his life, but I can’t imagine why he would stop in the next five years, or certainly three. Why would he?"
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