Hamilton hits back at retirement rumours in Montreal

Lewis Hamilton has firmly rejected growing speculation that he could retire from Formula 1 at the end of the season.

The seven-time world champion arrived in Montreal - one of his strongest circuits historically - amid fresh questions about his long-term future at Ferrari following another inconsistent start to a season.

Speaking on Thursday, 41-year-old Hamilton insisted he is thinking far beyond 2027.

"I’m still in contract, so everything is 100 percent clear to me," he said.

"I’m still focused, I’m still motivated, I still love what I do with all my heart."

"And I’m going to be here for quite some time, so get used to it. There’s a lot of people that are trying to retire me and that’s not even on my thoughts."

"I’m already thinking of what will be next, planning for the next five years."

The comments come shortly after former driver Ralf Schumacher suggested Hamilton and Fernando Alonso should both step aside for younger drivers.

Hamilton has also recently attracted attention for abandoning heavy simulator preparation after openly admitting frustration with Ferrari’s correlation issues.

The Briton - long known for disliking simulators - revealed he skipped sim work entirely before Canada after relying heavily on it earlier this season.

"I just decided for this one, I’m just going to sit it out and focus more on the data," Hamilton explained.

"I’m not saying I’m never going to use it again."

"But China, for example, I didn’t do the sim for China and it was my best weekend."