Lewis Hamilton admitted his first ever win-less season has been hard, but said it wasn’t the toughest year he’s endured during his time in Formula 1.
George Russell gave Mercedes their first victory of the year in the penultimate round in Brazil. But despite never seeming in contention for a win at the season finale, Hamilton said he remained hopeful until the end that a win would come his way.“I always believed right until the last race that there was potentially a chance,” he said after Sunday’s race. “So I think it’s important to hold onto hope and just keep working.”
Hamilton hit trouble early in Sunday’s race when he appeared to suffer damage after going off the track. He was holding fourth in the final laps with Carlos Sainz Jnr bearing down on him when a technical problem put him out.
“I gave it everything,” he said. “I think it ultimately the last race was almost like the whole season, summed up the whole year. So I’m glad it’s done.”
“Of course it would have been nice to have had a win,” he admitted. “But one win is not really enough, is it?
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He named the 2011 season, when he took three wins and finished fifth in the championship for McLaren, as one of his tougher years in F1. “I think 2011 was probably the hardest year I had just in terms of, just in life,” he said.
“This year was probably not the greatest. It’s up there with the probably top three of the worst seasons. But it’s been, I think, a much stronger year in terms of myself, in terms of how I work with the team, how we’ve all stayed united. So I think there has been lots of pluses from this year.”
He is due to drive the team’s W13 once more this year in testing on Tuesday, but joked he may try to find a way out of it. “I don’t know, I might have to pull a sickie, be like ‘my back’s hurting’ or something,” he laughed.
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Ajaxn
20th November 2022, 16:25
Hamilton was knobbled out of that Brazilian win which seem predestined for him. I’m sure he wont forget that in a hurry. For all the talk of new teammates getting on, that new chap Russell knows how to play dirty when it suits his interests.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
20th November 2022, 19:41
No idea what you’re on about
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st November 2022, 18:54
Well, russell playing dirty, I can only thing about purposefully beaching the car in quali while the rain intensified. I doubt he did on purpose, but it’d have been interesting where hamilton and other drivers would end up that last lap before the rain intensified, if there hadn’t been that interruption, what with hamilton being generally good in the rain.
Wayne
22nd November 2022, 7:56
I agree but i would prefer sly not dirty.
DaveW (@dmw)
20th November 2022, 16:48
Yeah he was a mess in 2011. When he wasnt crashing with Massa it was massive off track drama. He doesn’t seem like the same person at all.
Bhopp
21st November 2022, 5:10
I think you mean when massa was told to ‘destroy Hamilton’s race’ and was crashing into him.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st November 2022, 18:55
“Felipe, execute order 44!”
Wayne
22nd November 2022, 7:57
I remember that now….massa not english speaking probably took his instruction too literally…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
21st November 2022, 18:56
Well, I guess hamilton hadn’t taken that number yet, wasn’t following during the vettel era, only before and after.
Edvaldo
20th November 2022, 17:18
Probably better than 2011, that was bad, and the car was decent, and 2013 in which he dropped of near the end.
If people consider Russell a future champion in the making and Hamilton is still slightly more competitive than him, that’s a good level to be.
Simon (@simon999)
20th November 2022, 17:24
I’d like to see Russell up his race pace. It’s not bad, but most of the time he’s still a fair chunk away from Hamilton. I was expecting him to take it to at least one of the Ferraris today and he didn’t have the pace, whereas Hamilton was faster for most of the race even with (what looks to have been) a damaged car.
I think the Merc had the pace to be fighting for P2 with LeClerc and Perez. Hamilton seemed capable of doing so without the early incident, but Russell never seemed to be. I was a bit disappointed.
Wayne
22nd November 2022, 7:59
I agree 100% but if i may add i think Mercedes went the wrong way with their setvup. Or atleast maybe abit too extreme.
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
20th November 2022, 17:41
Russel has proven to be the most consistent driver out of the 2, eventually beating lewis over the whole season. Makes everyone wonder if lewis is at albon’s level, as albon also beat latifi the way russel beat latifi. In fact latifi managed to beat russel a few times.
Davethechicken
20th November 2022, 19:26
Well, we already know Max is just below the level of Riccardo. So let’s give Lando a proper chance.
Electroball76
21st November 2022, 9:16
Maldonado scored more wins in a season than Lewis, Ricciardo, Lando and Alonso (combined) did this year, so Pastor could be at Albon level?
Wayne
22nd November 2022, 8:03
Actually if you watched alot of interviews by the drivers etc and read up more on the teams development you would know that Lewis sacrificed his car for testing the first half of the year. Testing extreme setups. Testing areo. Testing different suspension etc. Whioe russell was given free opportunity to just go racing. There is always a bigger picture. You should step back and see it sometimes. Your appreciation for Lewis and Russel might just change.
hyoko
20th November 2022, 18:04
You put the bar too high. Latifi is more like it
AlexTR (@petrucci)
20th November 2022, 22:38
It is nice you have a distinctive avatar cause this way we can all skip your unskilled hate-speech in a blink