Lewis Hamilton makes retirement plans after chats with sports stars

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he will channel his efforts into running his own film and TV production company when he eventually decides to call time on his Formula One career. The 37-year-old remains tied down to Mercedes until the end of 2023 as things stand but has previously insisted that he expects to keep racing for at least a few more years as he chases a record-breaking eighth Drivers’ Championship title.Hamilton already seems to be planning for life away from the paddock, though, after setting up Dawn Apollo Films with the aim of focusing entirely on the company when he is no longer behind the wheel. He explained in an interview with Deadline that he believes it is important to find other passions after speaking with many former athletes who struggled to cope after retiring from their respective sports.”When I do stop racing, which I don’t plan on doing for a while [as] I still feel I’m in a good place, I want it to be seamless,” said Hamilton.”I want to be able to move on to fully focus on Dawn Apollo Films and to be able to jump in at a similar level to what I’ve been used to. I’ve spoken to people who have said: ‘Look, when I stopped it all came crashing down, I wasn’t prepared to do other things, I hadn’t taken time to learn any other crafts, other skills, and I don’t know what my other passions are.'”JUST IN: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell set new Mercedes target Lewis Hamilton is planning to go into film-making when he retires from F1 (Image: GETTY)Dawn Apollo Films already has two projects on the go, one of which is a documentary about Hamilton’s life that is expected to be released in late 2023 or early 2024. The other is an F1-themed movie starring Brad Pitt, with filming set to commence at race weekends during the second half of next season.”I’ve always been into movies,” added Hamilton. “I watch a lot. I find it a real escape. There are a lot of movies I find inspiring and I’ve always dreamed of one day doing something in this space.DON’T MISSLewis Hamilton and George Russell set new Mercedes targetMartin Brundle says Lewis Hamilton can still enjoy ‘glorious’ seasonFernando Alonso meeting ordered by F1 stewards after US GP protests The 37-year-old remains contracted to Mercedes until the end of the 2023 season (Image: EXPRESS)”The question was often asked whether I would act. I’ve been very fortunate to be an F1 driver so I never really had time to dedicate to the craft of acting but a dream of mine has been to story-tell. I sat down with my team, and I asked: ‘What would it take for us to start a production company?'”I went around and I met a range of producers and filmmakers in LA just to gain knowledge, one of them was Jeffrey Katzenberg. The goal is to make impactful stories and ultimately to inspire people through movies and storytelling. A big part of the new company will be about social impact, community and causes, that’s very important to me.”Hamilton is still racing for now, though, which means that his film-making ambitions will need to be put on hold until his F1 career draws to a close at some point further down the line. He will be desperately hoping to wrap up another Drivers’ Championship title before he eventually chooses to retire as he looks to go down as the most successful driver of all time by beating Michael Schumacher’s long-standing record.Follow our new Express Sport page on Instagram here.