Lewis Hamilton sensationally admits he could QUIT F1 at the end of the 2017 season
Mercedes ace Hamilton gives first clue he is looking to life away from racing in revealing interview
LEWIS HAMILTON has hinted he could quit Formula One at the end of this season.
The three-time world champion has revealed for the first time he is thinking about his legacy when he is no longer racing.
And the Mercedes star says he is the man in charge of his own destiny - throwing up the possibility 2017 could be his last year in Grand Prix action.
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In an interview with the FIA's official in-house magazine , Hamilton suggested he has already cemented his place in the sport's history.
The 32-year-old said: "My destiny is in my own hands. I can decide to stop at the end of this year.
"Does that mean my legacy is less great than it would be if I stop in five years' time? Who's to say?
"I don't like to plan for it because I don't know what's around the corner, I don't know what I'm going to do.
"Whatever I know I'm going to do, if I apply myself the way I've always applied myself in my racing and I apply it to anything else I want to do in life, or even if it's still in racing, I feel I can achieve great things.
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"I'm never going to stop pushing the limits of whatever it is I do with myself and I'm always going to strive for greatness in whatever world it is that I'm in.
"So I think that mission or that mentality will create my legacy."
Hamilton admits the shock decision of Nico Rosberg to retire after winning the world title last year makes sense to him.
But he does say he is enjoying the competitive nature of Formula One this season because so many cars are close on performance.
He is currently chasing Ferrari's world championship leader Sebastian Vettel, and the competition is tighter in the sport now than it has been for several years.
He added: "I can empathise, and really understand in some ways, the feeling of wanting to stop and do something different.
"Every now and then I have a thought of what I will do after Formula One. Then I see that car and I am like, 'I think I am going to stay'.
"I don't know how long I will stay, but I am still competitive, still hungry and still driving at my best.
"Right now it's solely on competition. It feels the same car as last year we're just having a competition.
"If we're able to qualify the top 10 within half a second or something like that, now that's a fri**in' race.
"Maybe top five within a few tenths of a second, that's racing man, because then every millimetre, every metre of braking counts.
"Everything counts even more than before, and right now it's even more the case than before.
"It's also easier battling another team. There's a whole mental shift, the whole team's dynamic shifts in a powerful way.
"When [the competition] is all within a team it's just like a big vortex, and depending on the tension it gets stronger and stronger and is actually not really what a team is built to be.
"Now having another team [to fight] we are pulling together with that same drive - it's just so much more powerful, it's really awesome."