Lewis Hamilton hopes his victory in the British Grand Prix will help him move on from the impact of the 2021 season after admitting it has taken him longer to get over than he thought.
Last Sunday’s win at Silverstone was Hamilton’s first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of a fierce championship battle with Max Verstappen. Hamilton was comfortably leading the final race that season and on course to be champion when the incorrect application of the rules led to a final lap restart, with Verstappen overtaking Hamilton to win the title.
After admitting he was particularly emotional after winning at Silverstone due to doubts he’d had about whether he would win again, Hamilton says it has taken him longer to move on from how the sport dealt with the 2021 controversy.
“I think only time will tell,” Hamilton said. “What I can say is that I’m not giving up. I feel like I’m making the right decisions with my life, with how I prepare and how I manage my time; the decision I’ve taken, for example, for next year, the commitment I still have to this team and the love that I still have for this team and the love that I still have for my job.
“I really, really love this job. There’s never going to be anything that comes close to it. And it’s something I’m incredibly grateful for, to be in amongst these 20 drivers within this great sport that’s having such a momentous time. We just had the launch of the trailer of the [“F1″] movie…
“Honestly, when I came back in 2022, I thought that I was over it. And I know I wasn’t and it’s taken a long time for sure to heal that kind of feeling. That’s only natural for anyone that has that experience. And I’ve just been continuing to try and work on myself and find that inner peace day by day.”
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Hamilton says the fact that Mercedes had not been overly competitive in the time since his last victory made it an even tougher time to handle, with Red Bull dominating the majority of that spell.
“It’s been such a long time. Someone just told me 946 days or something like that since the last win. Really challenging,” he said. “A difficult time, obviously, 2021 and then coming back with a car that we’ve not been able to fight with for the last couple of years. It’s been incredibly mentally challenging, I think, for everyone in the team.
“But just knowing how hard everyone’s continued to work, knowing how I’ve managed just to keep my head in it, and then with everything that’s happened this year as well, with so many emotions this year, announcing that I’m leaving and at the same time starting with a car that we didn’t feel that we could win with, to then finally be in a place where we win — and not only that but at the British Grand Prix in front of my home crowd…
“Honestly, it’s the most incredible honor to be standing on the top of the podium and hearing the national anthem with the King’s name in it, for example. It’s the first time I’ve had that.”