Lewis Hamilton keeps faith in adversity

Despite a complicated season, on the verge of becoming its first without a victory since its debut in Formula 1 in 2007 with McLaren, Lewis Hamilton does not intend to turn his back on discipline right away. Recently, the seven-time world champion confirmed his desire to continue his adventure with Mercedes beyond the end of his current contract with the German team, which runs until December 2023. He will then be very close to his 39th birthday, but the Englishman, still physically sharp, is not worried about the weight years on his condition. On the contrary.

“Physically, I feel the best because I focused on that as I got older”, he says on the Formula 1 website. And if his mental shell may have been cracked after the controversial 2021 final during which he came within a few turns of a historic eighth coronation, Hamilton assures that his motivation is still intact. “I love driving so I’m working on something. I can't tell you what yet, but there is no limit to what we can do. » 

“The support from Mercedes has been incredible since day one”

The Stevenage native draws this motivation beyond the simple adrenaline of competition. With Mercedes, Sir Lewis Hamilton has indeed found a team which also allows him to highlight his personal commitments and convictions. “I want to be creative and continue to do all the things I need to do. I can be myself with this team, he explains like this. The support from Mercedes has been incredible since the very first day. It's not just about winning together, we can be part of many people trying to change the world. This is what we can try to do together, because Mercedes is a huge brand that can have a huge following in the world. »

His special relationship with Toto wolff, the Mercedes Team Principal, is also a key element in Lewis Hamilton's desire to continue with the German team in the years to come: “Toto is one of my best friends. We've had complicated times, difficult negotiations, a roller coaster of emotions over the years, but we are like family. He wants the best for me and I want the best for him. We can talk about anything when we're on the phone. Our values ​​and goals are aligned to help the brand grow and achieve its objectives. »

“The obstacle we have to overcome is enormous”

The aforementioned objectives by Hamilton were however undermined in 2022. After eight years of unchallenged domination, Mercedes had to leave the Constructors' world title to a team Red Bull merciless this season. The extreme concept of the W13 did not work and the Silver Arrows chased their performance level all season with a car difficult to understand. After the latest encouraging results, all of Brackley is in full swing to return to the leading roles in 2023.

“The obstacle we have to overcome is enormous, judge Lewis Hamilton. For us, it is important to imagine that this is the biggest, steepest, most difficult mountain we can climb. If we think it's just a hill, we won't achieve our goals. We've already done a lot of work to understand where we went wrong in our previous decisions, the ones that were made last year or this year. It's not easy to make the right choices between all the different options we have for next season. Communication is important is what I work on with everyone, making sure there are no misunderstandings about how I feel when I'm in the car and what I want. I make sure to create an ongoing dialogue. »

For this, Hamilton and Mercedes will be able to count on George Russell. For his first year as a starter with the star brand, the 24-year-old driver impressed with his consistency to the point of being ahead of his designated leader in the Drivers' championship, even signing the team's only pole position to date. this year, in Hungary. “George was one of the young drivers on the team, he knew our procedures and knew what to expect,” analyzes his teammate. For my part, I just tried to be as welcoming and inclusive by trying to talk a lot about the car, about what we could each test on our own. I just try to work with him like I did with Valtteri (Bottas. Editor’s note). It always takes time to get everyone into the rhythm when new people come on board, but he does an incredible job. “ 

After what are perhaps the most difficult 12 months of his storied career, Lewis Hamilton is already looking towards his next chapter to write.

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