Lewis Hamilton has vowed not to become a "negative" ex-driver after retiring from Formula 1.
Aged 37, the subject of retirement comes up often around Hamilton. The Brit insists he plans to continue racing in F1 for a while yet, as he is "still on the mission" and is eyeing further milestones after recently completing his 300th Grand Prix in the sport.
But the Mercedes star has already made one pledge that he plans to keep when he does eventually decide to pursue other interests. "I'll always be tapped into this sport, I'll always be watching," he told his former team-mate Heikki Kovalainen on Sweden-based streaming service ViaPlay.
"I'll always want to be someone that's being positive to whichever drivers that are here, good or bad, because you know how difficult it is to start, and how it can suck and how days can be good and how people can be negative about you. I don't ever want to be one of those drivers that does that, because we've experienced that."
Hamilton's comments come after he took aim at F1's "old voices" for their constant negativity when speaking to the press. He was speaking after it emerged that he had been racially abused by Nelson Piquet, and following Bernie Ecclestone's defence of the disgraced ex-champion.
"In the last couple of weeks, I don't think a day has gone by when someone who has not been relevant in our sport for decades has not been saying negative things and trying to bring me down," he told reporters ahead of last month's British Grand Prix.
"But I am still here and still standing strong. I'm focused on my work and pushing for diversity and inclusion in our sport. Crisis management. It's not enough. Now it's time for actual real action.
"Formula 1, the media, we should not be giving these people a platform. I've always tried to be respectful to these individuals but why did we give these guys a platform? They are not with the time, they are not willing to change.
"'These micro-aggressions and racial undertones are just creating more divides. I love when Michelle Obama says 'when they go low, we go high' so I try to do that. I'm still here and it’s not going to deter me from doing what is right and doing what I love, which is working in this sport."
