Seven-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton defends claim that he could still be in F1 when Rwanda hosts its Grand Prix.

Speaking in Austin last weekend, in reference to the agreement which will see Rwanda host a round of the world championship from 'early in the next decade', Hamilton said he aimed to still be on the grid in order to contest the first African Grand Prix.

Even if the Rwanda race were to be the season opener - which would mean paying an awful lot of cash to F1 - the Briton would be 45, around the same age that Fernando Alonso is now.

However, while the Spaniard is a rarity, when asked if he truly believes that he can still be racing in his mid-forties Hamilton was in no doubt.

"Firstly, you've never had anyone like me here in the seventy years," he replied. "So I feel that I'm built differently.

"Of course, there are challenges up ahead that I can't foresee that come with age," he admitted. "But along this journey, there have been so many preconceived ideas about the fact that your reaction time drops off...

"Did you see my reaction in the last race?" he continued, referring to his start at COTA. "My reaction is faster than some of the youngest people here.

"There are lots of tools you can utilise to keep yourself and your mind sharp," he insisted. "As long as you're willing to keep sacrificing everything... I can't say in four years whether I want to continue to do what I'm doing, but I love what I'm doing still now. I'm still all in, and I will be for the foreseeable future.

"Whether or not I can compete at 44 with a 20-year-old, who knows? But at 41, I can compete with a 20-year-old. So time will tell. Whether I'm here in the 2030s, we'll see.

"I never want to overstay my welcome in a sense of not having the performance," he added. "I don't want to be driving around having really dropped off, my reactions have dropped off, my driving has dropped off, and my pace has dropped off, which everyone assumed last year. I proved everyone wrong with that. I aim to continue to do so."

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"I'm still all in," insists Hamilton

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