Lewis Hamilton declared he is “built differently” to any Formula One driver in history as he doubled down on his vow to be racing into the 2030s.

The seven-time world champion made the bold statement last weekend that he plans to stick around to fulfil his dream of racing in Africa, after the sport announced a race in Rwanda from the “early 2030s”.

Hamilton is 41, meaning he will be at least 45 when that race takes place, and it was put to him ahead of this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix that it may be a stretch to still be challenging at the highest level when Rwanda comes around.

But the British driver rebuffed that suggestion, declaring: “Firstly, you’ve never had anyone like me in the 70 years (of F1), I feel like I am built differently.

“Of course there are challenges up ahead that I can’t foresee that come with age. But along this journey there have been so many pre-conceived ideas like that your reaction time drops off.

“Did you see my reaction time in the last race? It was faster than some of the youngest people here.

“As long as you are willing to sacrifice everything, which I am right now – I can’t say in four years whether I will want to continue doing what I’m doing – but I am still all in.

“I will be for the foreseeable future.”

Hamilton is in contention to finish second in the drivers’ championship this season, in a fight with four drivers to end the season behind runaway champion-in-waiting Kimi Antonelli – 21 years Hamilton’s junior.

After a challenging debut season with Ferrari last year, this campaign has gone far better – including a maiden win for the Scuderia in Barcelona in June.

Hamilton believes he has proven that he can still compete at the highest level.

“Time will tell whether I’m here in the 2030s. I never want to overstay my welcome in the sense of not having the performance,” he added.

“I don’t want to be driving around with that having really dropped off.

“Everyone assumed that last year and I have proved everyone wrong. I’ll continue to try to do so.”