ENGLAND - Having achieved record-equalling seven world titles in the Formula One (F1) through his hard work and prowess in the sport, Lewis Hamilton is expecting a harder battle in his record-breaking attempt for the eighth crown.
The Mercedes AMG Petronas driver, who is grateful for what he has achieved in his thrilling motorsports career, said he has no idea what the future holds for him, but is prepared to work even harder towards the goal.
The 35-year-old Briton is also anticipating his team’s seven years of dominance in the sport will be greatly challenged by their rivals, especially Red Bull Racing and the McLaren team, with the latter switching from Renault to Mercedes engine next season.
This is especially after witnessing Red Bull’s dominating win from flag-off to the chequered flag by Max Verstappen in the season’s finale at Abu Dhabi, where Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Hamilton finished second and third, respectively.
“It is going to take a lot of work from my guys, take a real battle next year for us to develop the car where we need to continuously let our barriers down, open my mind and working on dynamics, in different ways…. Not easy to improve each year.
“So I really do not how to get there, but know it is going to take a lot of work, I need to work a lot harder than before and going study more than ever to try to be on top with this car even more than what happened this year. I also must push the guys around me to be a lot sharper and make sure they are hungry, push to the point that they are on the edge but not break.
“I seriously think next year Red Bull will be a force to reckon and potentially McLaren too… I think that is exciting, but not that we do not fear or anything, but we love the challenge,” he said in a virtual session with selected media, recently.
The 2020 season, disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Hamilton matched F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s seven world championship wins with 347 points, having over 100 points advantage on teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was the closest in the standing with 223 points.
Hamilton also carved his name as the most decorated F1 driver, having won 95 races, 98 poles and 165 podiums, more than anyone else to be labelled the sport’s greatest of all-time by the fans, though he had to miss the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain after testing positive for COVID-19.
The disruptive season also saw Mercedes-Petronas collaboration continued its dominance to clinch the seventh consecutive Constructors World Championships title with 573 points, winning 13 out of 17 races staged in 2020, where Hamilton himself won 11, while Bottas emerged victorious twice.
Talking on the Silver Arrow team’s dominance since 2014, Hamilton said Petronas had played a crucial role in making their machines as the most consistent, reliable, powerful and efficient even in the most extreme conditions and temperatures.
“We have to push and rely on Petronas to bring us the most efficient fuel and lubricants with the least frictions and the coolant, which help to keep the temperature out of the components.
For example, the engine is the heart of the car, so we always talk about the fluid that runs through the engine being the blood.
“Petronas technicians back in Turin and their Trackside Lab in each grand prix are working hard year in year out in collaboration with the guys at the HPP (Mercedes AMG High-Performance Powertrains) to help us reach what we achieved. I do not think people realise when we talk about dominance that is a major part of it. Others did not do what we are doing with Petronas, as simple as that,” he said on the national oil company. – Bernama, December 18, 2020.
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