F1 Racing - UK (2019-12)

EXTRACTFIA PRESS CONFERENCE

PORTRAITGLENN DUNBAR

LEWIS HAMILTON

IN CONVERSATION WITH

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 45

With a sixth world championship in the bag, Lewis Hamilton

has Formula 1’s few remaining unbroken records well within

his sights. And there’s bad newsfor his rivals – he feels he’s

still got potentialto improve, and he’s not aboutto rest on

his achievements

“I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE

THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE

TO GROW AND DO MORE

WITH THIS TEAM AND

WITHIN F1. THAT WOULD

BE THETARGET BU T

TIME WILL TELL”

How would you rate this title compared

with the five before? Has itbeen easier?

No way has it been theeasiest. It’s been

the hardestyear for us asa te am.We lost

Niki [Lauda] – a real pivotalmember of

our team. Theemotionalrol lercoaster

we’ve been on with losinghim, anda

race [Mexico] where I didn’t haveBono

[race engineer Pete Bonnington]here,

just trying to remain focused throughout

the year... and thiscar has notbeen easy.

Westarted the season honestly goingto

Melbourne thinkingtha t we wer e going

to be behind.Mid-point of the s easo n

wewerebehind [onpace], and it’sbeen

a real challenge, thissecond half of th e

season.It’s be en the toughest second

half I thinkwe’ve had as ateam, ¿ghting

againstFerrari and Red Bull –which is

great, we welcomethat.

(very journey is diɣerent. (very year

you go througha diɣerent rollercoaster

ride to ge t to where you’re going.I wrote

somethingin my [Instagram] post this

morning, that eachand every singleone

of us is st ruggling withsomethingin life.

Whatever it may be: small, big. I tried

to show people that, from the outside,

things always look greatbut it’s not

always thecase.A nd I ama lso struggling

with lots of diɣerent thingsand battling

certain demons andtrying tomake sure

that I’ m constantlygrowingas a person.

Would youcare to elaborate onthat?

Well, notpartic ularly – to ea ch an d

every one of us it’s personal, what we all

challenge when welook in the mirror

each day, when you feel good or you feel

bad forwhatever reason. There’s always

the darker side trying to pul l you down

and you’re constantly havingto wake

up... I don’t knowhow you wakeup in

the morning but I lookin the mirror and

I’m trying to lift myself up and say: ‘Yes,

you can do it. Yes, you are great. Yes you

can be ¿tif you go and put thattime in.

Yes, you canwin thi s race if you do the

right steps andyou continueto believe

in yourself, and no-oneelse is going to

do it for you.

This year losingNiki, I didn’t think

that was goingto hit me as hard asit

did. Itre ally was upsettingandI miss

him dearly. I didn’t realise how muchI

loved theguy, fr om the momentthat he

was calling me,when Iwas back home,

asking meto come to theteam, to when

we sat togetherin the hotel in Singapore

• the weekendmy ge arbox broke at
  McLaren– to him always taking his hat
  oɣ, to all sorts. 7hatwas a toug h pivot
  point for us andalso we lost ayoung kid
  [Anthoine Hu bert] atSpa. I sawiton th e
  TV, I sawit happen.When something
  like that happens it can put lotsof
  doubts in yourmind.

You’re within one title of Michael

Schumacher’s record. Are you motivated

to end your career as statistically the

greatest that’s ever been?

I’ve alwayssaid Michael’s [record] was

never atarget for me. I’m not onethat

really thinks of records. I had thought

gettinganyw here near Michaelwas s o

far-fetchedand I remember having my

one [championship]for a longperiod of

time, then getting a second.

I don’twant to build uptrying to get

seven because,at the moment, I’ve got

to enjoyright now. Tomorrow’s not a

given. WhatI have to do,and what we

all should try, isto makesure you enjoy

each day.So I’m nottrying to thinkof

what’s going to happenat the end of

next year or 2021. I believe that Ihave

the ability to continue to growand to do

more withthis team andwithin F1. That

would bethe targ et but time will tell.

Would you say thishas actually been

your best seasonoverall, as adriver?

I de¿nitelythink so. /ast year was a year

of continuousgrowth and this year has

also been continuousgrowth,but I tried

to make sure that I started the season

as I ¿nished lastyear. 7hat’s just stayed

through theseason. If you look, I’ve been

very consistent in qualifying.I’ve not

had particularly spectacularpoles t hat

perhapsI did last year – but it’s been

¿rst orse cond row the majority ofthe

time. Andapart fro m Hockenheim –I’ll

give myself a pass forthat because I

wasn’t really 100%– I thin k it’s been the

best performing year. It takes a longtime

to mastera cr aft and while I feelI am

maste ringit, there’s moreto master.

EXTRACTFIA PRESS CONFERENCE

PORTRAITGLENN DUNBAR

LEWIS HAMILTON

IN CONVERSATION WITH

F1 RACING DECEMBER 2019 45

With a sixth world championship in the bag, Lewis Hamilton

has Formula 1’s few remaining unbroken records well within

his sights. And there’s bad newsfor his rivals – hefeels he’s

still got potentialto improve, and he’s not aboutto rest on

his achievements

“I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE

THE ABILITY TO CONTINUE

TO GROW AND DO MORE

WITH THIS TEAM AND

WITHIN F1. THAT WOULD

BE THETARGET BU T

TIME WILL TELL”

How would you rate this title compared
with the five before? Has itbeen easier?
No way has it been theeasiest. It’s been
the hardestyear for us asa te am.We lost
Niki [Lauda] – a real pivotalmember of
our team. Theemotionalrol lercoaster
we’ve been on with losinghim, anda
race [Mexico] where I didn’t haveBono
[race engineer Pete Bonnington]here,
just trying to remain focused throughout
the year... and thiscar has notbeen easy.
Westarted the season honestly goingto
Melbourne thinkingtha t we wer e going
to be behind.Mid-point of the s easo n
wewerebehind [onpace], and it’sbeen
a real challenge, thissecond half of th e
season.It’s be en the toughest second
half I thinkwe’ve had as ateam, fighting
againstFerrari and Red Bull –which is
great, we welcomethat.
Every journey is different. Every year
you go througha different rollercoaster
ride to ge t to where you’re going.I wrote
somethingin my [Instagram] post this
morning, that eachand every singleone
of us is st ruggling withsomethingin life.
Whatever it may be: small, big. I tried
to show people that, from the outside,
things always look greatbut it’s not
always thecase.A nd I ama lso struggling
with lots of different thingsand battling
certain demons andtrying tomake sure
that I’ m constantlygrowingas a person.

Would youcare to elaborate onthat?
Well, notpartic ularly – to ea ch an d
every one of us it’s personal, what we all
challenge when welook in the mirror
each day, when you feel good or you feel
bad forwhatever reason. There’s always
the darker side trying to pul l you down

and you’re constantly havingto wake

up... I don’t knowhow you wakeup in

the morning but I lookin the mirror and

I’m trying to lift myself up and say: ‘Yes,

you can do it. Yes, you are great. Yes you

can be fitif you go and put thattime in.

Yes, you canwin thi s race if you do the

right steps andyou continueto believe

in yourself, and no-oneelse is going to

do it for you.

This year losingNiki, I didn’t think

that was goingto hit me as hard asit

did. Itre ally was upsettingandI miss

him dearly. I didn’t realise how muchI

loved theguy, fr om the momentthat he

was calling me,when Iwas back home,

asking meto come to theteam, to when

we sat togetherin the hotel in Singapore

• the weekendmy ge arbox broke at
  McLaren– to him always taking his hat
  off, to all sorts. Thatwas a toug h pivot
  point for us andalso we lost ayoung kid
  [Anthoine Hu bert] atSpa. I sawiton th e
  TV, I sawit happen.When something
  like that happens it can put lotsof
  doubts in yourmind.

You’re within one title of Michael

Schumacher’s record. Are you motivated

to end your career as statistically the

greatest that’s ever been?

I’ve alwayssaid Michael’s [record] was

never atarget for me. I’m not onethat

really thinks of records. I had thought

gettinganyw here near Michaelwas s o

far-fetchedand I remember having my

one [championship]for a longperiod of

time, then getting a second.

I don’twant to build uptrying to get

seven because,at the moment, I’ve got

to enjoyright now. Tomorrow’s not a

given. WhatI have to do,and what we

all should try, isto makesure you enjoy

each day.So I’m nottrying to thinkof

what’s going to happenat the end of

next year or 2021. I believe that Ihave

the ability to continue to growand to do

more withthis team andwithin F1. That

would bethe targ et but time will tell.

Would you say thishas actually been

your best seasonoverall, as adriver?

I definitelythink so. Last year was a year

of continuousgrowth and this year has

also been continuousgrowth,but I tried

to make sure that I started the season

as I finished lastyear. That’s just stayed

through theseason. If you look, I’ve been

very consistent in qualifying.I’ve not

had particularly spectacularpoles t hat

perhapsI did last year – but it’s been

first orse cond row the majority ofthe

time. Andapart fro m Hockenheim –I’ll

give myself a pass forthat because I

wasn’t really 100%– I thin k it’s been the

best performing year. It takes a longtime

to mastera cr aft and while I feelI am

maste ringit, there’s moreto master.