Why Hamilton's next move should be to Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton has achieved so much in his Formula 1 career already that it's difficult to foresee what greater heights he could aspire to.

Winning two more world championships with Mercedes would take him to five, which would ensure he surpassed contemporary rival Sebastian Vettel's current tally of four and make Hamilton statistically the most successful driver on the current grid by every relevant measure.

It would also neatly take him to the end of his current contract with Mercedes, which lasts until the end of 2018. Before then, he must decide what he does next.

What seems fairly certain is that Hamilton won't suddenly decide he wants a racing life outside of F1.

Fernando Alonso's recent sojourn to the Indianapolis 500, following on from Nico Hulkenberg's winning trip to the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2015, inevitably prompted questions to other top F1 drivers about whether they would consider motorsport outside grand prix racing.

Alonso has clearly shifted his focus towards trying to win a 'triple crown', as the likelihood of his taking many more F1 titles recedes amid the running disaster of McLaren-Honda's reformation.

The fact Hamilton is in perpetual title contention at present renders the point rather moot, but nevertheless he confirmed during a special interview with Autosport that he has no interest in trying other forms of motorsport right now.

"Currently I don't," says Hamilton, who feels ultimately he can "dabble in anything I want to" should he develop an interest. "I'm not interested in Indy. My heart is solely with this [F1]. The Formula 1 car is still the greatest car. I love rallying, but I don't see myself doing it. Not even Le Mans. There is no other form that tickles my fancy.

"I love MotoGP, but I have never ridden a fricking bike around a racetrack! It is not like going to Indy where Fernando can just jump in and easily be at the front, if I got on a bike I'm going to break something - and I'll get up and probably break something again!

"I've got to do thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of laps before I could even get even a couple of seconds off Valentino [Rossi]'s time! Do I really want to give that time? I don't know.

"There's lot of other things that I'm good at, though, so we shall see. But one thing's for sure: when I one day stop, I'm going to miss racing like nothing else. It's going to be horrible. I can't even imagine how Nico's dealing with it."

Of course, his former team-mate Nico Rosberg's shock retirement at the end of last season, which came despite him signing a two-year contract extension with Mercedes just months earlier, proves anything can happen. But Hamilton seems more consumed by racing than Rosberg ever was, and F1 seems to have migrated back towards the sort of DNA that enthuses Hamilton.

Beyond whether Hamilton's multifarious external interests take over from F1 altogether at some point in the future, the burning question short-term is whether he will stick or twist post-2018. Does he continue his personal quest with Mercedes - a company that has helped nurture him since his formative teenaged years - or move on to pastures new?

"That's a difficult one to give you," he says when asked how he sees his F1 future post-2018. "You can't know. Are you married?" he asks. Autosport's writer confirms recent matrimony. "I'm not in a relationship, I don't plan to get married anytime soon, but you just don't know what is down the line."

Hamilton exists in a state of flux, where sometimes he thinks he wants to remain in F1 for the long haul and other times he reckons he might want to pack it all in and do something else with his life.

If Hamilton does decide to extend his F1 career beyond 2018, he should seek to do it with Ferrari rather than Mercedes. Racing for the Scuderia is special. Speak to any driver who has been fortunate enough to do so and they will tell you.

Despite the acrimonious circumstances of his departure, Alonso only has positive things to say about his time there. He didn't win the world championships he craved, but he loved the experience - because it's Ferrari, it means more than anywhere else.

Kimi Raikkonen is delighted that he won his one and only world championship with Ferrari for the same reason. Racing for Ferrari is transcendental.

Hamilton is a spiritual guy. He gets what Ferrari means to motor racing and to Formula 1 specifically. He describes Ferrari as "a super, super cool thing" and says "I'm a fan of Ferrari as a team, I'm a fan of their cars".

What's more, he's open minded to the possibility of driving for Ferrari one day too. You can bet it's the only other F1 team he could realistically see himself racing for.

Which makes complete sense when you think about it. Hamilton is a Formula 1 megastar. He is a major celebrity whose popularity transcends the boundaries of grand prix racing. He is F1's most recognisable and popular figure, a walking giant. There is no other team that could fit his profile, nor currently match his competitive standing either.

He doesn't fit the age profile of Red Bull, which grows its own talent and in any case competes in the energy drink market with Monster Energy, for which Hamilton has just launched his own special 'LH44' blend having entered into a personal deal with the brand this year.

He's already flown the McLaren nest, which is now in too much of a mess to be a credible alternative, and all the other teams on the grid would represent a major step backwards. Ferrari is Hamilton's only viable alternative to Mercedes.

Not since Nigel Mansell's eventful dalliance with the Scuderia in 1989-1990 has England had a driver race for F1's most prestigious and successful team.

Mansell's time at Maranello turned him into a cult hero - 'Il Leone' to the Tifosi - and that would be a wonderful final chapter for Hamilton to add to his own career.

"All I can say is, right at this minute, I really, really love being in this team," Hamilton says. "I feel more connected to this team than I ever have.

"I feel we're on a parallel journey together. I've been with Mercedes since I was 13, so it is hard to imagine being anywhere else.

"There's a special vibe there [at Ferrari], but what I saw looking down from the podium in Barcelona, actually Ferrari don't have anything we don't have.

"That special thing, that I see Vettel have when he is on the podium, when I was on that podium I felt that from them [Mercedes].

"I think, if I want, the future with Mercedes is there - because I've been with the family for years.

"And the thing is, when you're with Mercedes, when you stop with Mercedes, you're with the family for the rest of your life.

"There's 80-year-olds, 90-year-olds today that are still with the family, and they've been with them for 50 years.

"You don't have that anywhere else. You don't have it at McLaren, you don't have it at Renault, you don't have it at Ferrari, you don't have it at any other team. There's loyalty and a real, real family, so that would be difficult to leave.

"I love being here, so I don't really have any plans for being anywhere else."

Maybe not right now, but who knows what the future may hold?

A red future for Hamilton would be a wonderfully evocative next chapter for his own career - and for Formula 1.