What will Formula One actually look like without Lewis Hamilton?
The IndependentSign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It remains highly likely that Hamilton will be on the grid next season, despite the soon-to-be-crowned 2020 world champion throwing his future into doubt by admitting he doesn’t even know if he will have a drive with contract negotiations with Mercedes yet to reach a conclusion. Even in 2016 when Nico Rosberg beat Hamilton to the title - the only man to have done so in F1’s hybrid era - Hamilton had more wins and more podiums than his Mercedes rival. Fernando Alonso will return to Formula One next season, but at 39 years old, you’d imagine the comeback to be a short-lived one - certainly not one long enough to take on the mantle once Hamilton departs. It leaves a question that cannot yet be answered, but is getting dangerously close to becoming unavoidable: what will F1 look like without Lewis Hamilton?