The author of a new behind-the-scenes book on Mercedes has said Lewis Hamilton knows exactly when he plans to retire.

Hamilton will make his move to Ferrari next year but it has now been claimed that the seven-time World Champion has an end date in mind.

Lewis Hamilton retirement hinted at in latest revelation

Hamilton signed a three-year deal with the Italian outfit which will see him turn 42 ahead of his final season but while he has yet to state whether that will be his last deal in F1, author Matt Whyman said the current Mercedes driver knows when his end date will be.

“I asked him directly what was going on and he just said, ‘It is every kid’s dream who gets involved in motor racing to race a Ferrari, and that is it – I did not want to get to the end of my career and look back and go, what if?’” Whyman told the Mirror.

“He says he knows when the end of his career will be. He has got this very clear plan ahead of him. He said it is really meaningful to him, the fact that he has won all these races with Mercedes and he has been on this journey.

“The one thing he had not done and he just thought, ‘I do not want to walk away and go, I wish I had done that’.”

Hamilton himself has said that the end is coming and suggested the year-long nature of F1 was a part behind that decision.

“I definitely do,” he told Esquire when asked if he had an end date in mind.

“There are days I’m like, ‘shoot, I don’t know how much longer I can go’. There are days I’m like, ‘shoot, I’d love a break, a proper break’. Because you don’t get a real big break in the season like other sports.

“You don’t finish until mid to late December, and then you’re back into training already in January, and that’s two times a day you’re training. There are another couple of hours of therapy that you’re doing during that time as well. So you’re not really getting a huge amount of downtime.

“And in February, you’re flat-out running until December.”