LEWIS HAMILTON said yesterday that he is ready to extend his career beyond 2020 after giving his seal of approval to Formula One’s next-generation car.

On the eve of the Singapore Grand Prix, F1 provided a glimpse into the future after a concept of the machinery the sport hopes will inspire a new breed of fans was unveiled.

Ross Brawn, the English engineering mastermind who oversaw Michael Schumacher’s record seven championships at Benetton and Ferrari, is at the helm of F1’s technical body, led the presentation at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The 63-year-old, who returned to the sport following Liberty Media’s £6.4 billion takeover last January, has promised to create beautiful cars, closer racing and fiercer competition.

One key feature of the proposed cars will be the increased diameter of the wheels, from 13 to 18 inches, in a bid to make it easier for drivers to race. The prototype is in its third stage of development, and, in conjunction with the FIA, the sport’s regulator, the drawings released yesterday were more than a year in the making.

Despite his recent championship triumphs Hamilton, 30 points clear of Sebastian Vettel, has been disappointed with the technical direction F1 has taken.

But the 33-year-old, using typically colourful language on his Instagram account, gave a resounding thumbs-up to the futuristic design he believes will convince him to keep racing beyond his next deal with Mercedes which expires shortly before his 36th birthday.

“This shit looks dope af [as fuck],” he said to his 7.2m followers. “I’m definitely going to be driving if the cars look like this.”

F1’s reveal was not without its hiccoughs. The design featured the old logo while Brawn admitted that the controversial drag reduction system — a boost button which helps with artificial overtaking — may remain in 2021. The team principal for Ferrari also revealed that he was less than impressed by the concept.

“I asked our engineers what they thought and they said it was a bit underwhelming,” Maurizio Arrivabene said.

But Brawn, who has been in dialogue with all of the sport’s 10 teams over his plans, is confident he is making the right moves.

“One of the primary objectives has been to improve the racing of the cars, and how close they can get to each other without losing performance,” he said.

“The current cars can lose up to 50 per cent of their performance when they get to within one or two car lengths which means they struggle to race each other. We now have designs that lose only 20 per cent of their performance.”

He added: “The aesthetics are very important to us, and we want cars that young people will stick on their walls. It frustrates me when a car in a video game looks better than a car we have out on the track.

“I am optimistic that we are going to be able to produce great-looking cars, that can race much more effectively than they have done in the past.”