'I've got plenty of fuel left in the tank'
Lewis Hamilton said after his 300th F1 race that he feels he's got "plenty of fuel in the tank", and welcomed talks with Mercedes about his future.
Hamilton, 37, became the sixth driver in the sport's history to reach a triple century by racing in the French GP, and while his current contract expires in 2023, the prospect of him extending was a talking point over the weekend.
"I firstly just want to be grateful to get to this point, I'm still fresh and still feel I've got plenty of fuel left in the tank."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff egged on that narrative on Saturday as, smiling as he spoke to reporters, he said: "We talked a few weeks ago about how long our partnership can go, and the number that was discussed was five to 10 years, so I think we can get to 400 [races]!"
"Someone once said you have not just got to win the eighth [title], so why not 10?" added Wolff with a laugh.
Hamilton was questioned about that 400 benchmark after Sunday's race, where he finished second, and responded: "That's a lot of races!"
But Hamilton, who has spoken before about not wanting to continue racing into his 40s, also hinted he was willing to race on.
"I firstly just want to be grateful to get to this point," he said. "I'm still fresh and still feel I've got plenty of fuel left in the tank.
"Of course I want to get back to winning ways and that's going to take time. I'm sure we'll sit down at some stage and talk about the future."
The seven-time world champion explained that the drinks bottle in his Mercedes car did not work and he was dehydrated after racing in searing heat at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
"That was a tough race because my drinks bottle didn't work, but what a great result considering we've been so far off these guys all weekend," said Hamilton.
"I feel fantastic, but I wish I felt more hydrated – I'm looking forward to taking a few drinks now. I don't usually use the drinks bottle in a race, so it was my first time all year to try it and nothing came out.
"I didn't check my weight, but I would imagine I have lost around three kilos today so I am looking forward to downing this drink."
Hamilton recovered after a short rest to join the podium celebrations.
He heaped praise on his Mercedes team and team-mate George Russell and the big sell-out holiday crowd.
"Reliability is one thing my team is amazing at -- so huge congratulations to the team back at the factories and the team here," he said.
"Without them we wouldn't get this podium. And George did an amazing job as well."
Russell finished third to confirm Mercedes' first double podium finish of the season.
Looking ahead to next weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton added: "I love it at Budapest. Super excited to see the crowd there.
"It will be hard to beat Ferrari and Red Bull, they have the pace advantage still, but I'm hoping we bring upgrades to the track and hopefully step forward. Hopefully in that race, even closer."
Hamilton is only the sixth driver to appear in 300 Grands Prix and is bidding to be the first to win a race after reaching that total.
He is the only driver to have seen the chequered flag at the end of every race this season and Mercedes are the only team to score points in each race.