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‘It’s been a battle of the mind’ – Hamilton reveals lessons he learned during winless run of almost 1,000 days
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Lewis Hamilton has reflected on the key learnings he took from the two tough years he faced prior to his return to winning ways at the 2024 British Grand Prix, with the seven-time world champion admitting that dealing with the struggles became a “battle of the mind”.
Following the introduction of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, Mercedes enjoyed a dominant run in the sport which saw Hamilton win the drivers’ championship in every season – barring 2016 – from that year through to 2020.
However, when new technical regulations arrived in 2022, the Silver Arrows faced issues with their car and a period without wins ensued for Hamilton, a streak that was only broken when he claimed an emotional win at Silverstone this summer – 945 days after he had last stood on the top step of the podium.
In an interview with Esquire, Hamilton explained what he had learned about himself after going from a sustained run of success through to a more challenging spell.
“It’s been mostly a battle of the mind,” the 39-year-old conceded. “Keeping yourself sane, trying to pick up new tools. Ultimately, it always comes back to persistence and dedication. Hard work. It always does eventually pay off.
2024 British Grand Prix: Emotional Hamilton crosses the line to take a record ninth Silverstone victory
“I think I learned that life is really about how much pain you can experience and keep going, and how much you can suffer and keep moving forward, you know? And that’s life, right?
“It’s not how you fall; it’s how you get up. It’s how you continue to apply yourself every single day. It’s how you connect with people that you work with.”
Alongside this, Hamilton cited another way in which he feels that he has progressed, adding: “I probably learned to be a better team mate in this period of time, because we’ve had more time to focus on communication.”
Reflecting further on that breakthrough victory in front of his home crowd at Silverstone – which also marked a record ninth win at the track for Hamilton – the Briton admitted that the win had helped him to “rebuild”.
Hamilton – who has raced alongside George Russell at Mercedes since 2022 – believes that he became a "better team mate" during the squad's struggles
“Everyone was talking about it being this fairy tale. And it really, really was unexpected,” said Hamilton. “Going into that weekend, I had no idea that that was going to be possible. And it had been such a long time.
“So many thoughts cross your mind. Some of them you start to potentially believe in, bit by bit. And finally, I had that day when I was able to excel, and we excelled as a team, and it just kind of shuts that all down. And it helps you rebuild again.
“So it was really great to be able to do it at home, in my home country, with my family around. The last race in Mercedes at Silverstone. It couldn’t have been more magical.”
Hamilton is now set to embark on his final six races with the Silver Arrows before he departs for Ferrari in 2025, having signed a multi-year deal to race for the Scuderia.
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