Hamilton captured his seventh world title with a victory in the wet race of the Grand Prix of Turkey. He equaled it with that unassailable record of Michael Schumacher after the 35-year-old Briton had already ridden the record number of poles and victories of the German grandmaster from the books. In a extensive interview with some journalists, including Formula 1 reporter Jonathan Noble from Motorsport.com, Hamilton spoke about his working method at Mercedes, which has become increasingly refined over the years.
Hamilton reached a fabulously high level in 2020 and never seemed to get into real trouble. Especially in the races, he turned out to be much stronger than teammate Valtteri Bottas, who could only beat him a few times in qualifying. Hamilton only seems to get better over the years and has grown closer to his Mercedes team since the turbulent 2016 season, when he was defeated by Nico Rosberg after a tough battle. “It certainly feels like the highest level I’ve ever reached overall, yes,” said Hamilton. “Since we also had COVID-19 this year, we had more time to focus on the weaknesses, such as qualifying. You try to cover as much as possible, but sometimes you miss things and you don’t have time for Qualification. Then you have to be able to make really quick decisions. This year I have been a lot more efficient at that and that also comes down to the communication with the guys I work with. “
According to Hamilton, not only the working method within Mercedes has improved during the weekend, but also the development of the car during the season and the winter months. Hamilton himself plays an increasingly important role in this, which is mainly played out behind the scenes. Mercedes is much more open to Hamilton’s input than its previous team McLaren. “At McLaren I always questioned things, the way they handled the tires and the temperature, that sort of thing. And they never listened to me. They just did their thing,” reveals the seven-time world champion, who was there at Mercedes. succeeded.
“For example, I’ve put a lot of pressure on Mercedes about where I want the aerodynamic balance to be. I’ve let it shift little by little since 2014. The team is making a simulation that will tell you what the best car is, but that simulation can’t do what I can. You also need feeling. But I also had to learn a lot. I asked the boys a lot of questions and there have been times when I was wrong. But I’m totally fine to be wrong. but the team now thinks more ‘out of the box’. “
This approach is reminiscent of that of Michael Schumacher, who himself was also very involved in Ferrari’s operations and often spent time at the Maranello factory. “In terms of developing the car, I think it’s difficult for us drivers to understand exactly what Michael Schumacher was doing at Ferrari,” says Hamilton. “They just see that we have a good car and that’s it. Now I understand better and better what Michael’s approach was. I think it might be comparable to what I did. You should be at the helm. have a powerful group of intelligent, passionate people and of course you have the team boss at the helm, but in terms of development, how to make the car better and make it work with the driver’s qualities, that’s my job and I’m Certainly very proud of that. Unfortunately, people don’t get to see all of that work in the background. “
Read the full interview with Lewis Hamilton
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