Hamilton has not yet tired of sport

FORMULA One great Lewis Hamilton has insisted he plans to stay at Mercedes beyond this season, having hinted at his future plans by taking part in a tyre test for next year.

The seven-times world champion has signed only a one-year deal with Mercedes for this season, sparking debate about when the 36-yearold British driver will call time on his career.

But Hamilton (pictured), a man who famously dislikes testing, volunteered to take part in a tyre trial for Pirelli at Imola last week.

When asked why, he replied: “I plan to be here next year and I want to help Pirelli in helping them towards having a better product.”

Hamilton was driving the 2019 Mercedes car with the tyres proposed for next season.

He has previously said that his decision on whether to retire at the end of this season will not be linked to whether he wins a record eighth world title to move clear of Michael Schumacher in the all-time standings, but rather it will be based on his continued enjoyment of the sport.

Hamilton will take part in this weekend’s boycott of social media, which was started by English footballers and is backed by athletes, broadcasters and sponsors from several sports, to fight against the abuse many suffer online.

Formula One will not take part, nor any of the teams, including Mercedes. Insiders cited F1 as a global brand, rather than simply UK- focused, and said the sport did not have an issue with online abuse.

Hamilton, who suffered racist abuse early in his career, said: “It’s clear that racism continues to be an issue and I think social media platforms need to do more in order to combat this..”