‘Is it me?’ - Lewis Hamilton confesses to self-doubt during difficult F1 spell
For the second year in a row, Hamilton and Mercedes have endured a tricky season and lagged behind runaway champions🉐 Red Bull.
The seven-time world champion managed one pole position in 2023 but su🌸ffered his second successive ♛winless campaign.
Despite that, Hamilton was able to secure third place in the drivers’ championship behind Red Bull pair 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez.
“Ultimately, when you have difficult seasons like this, there are always going to be moments when you're like: 'Is i🌄t me, or is it the car? Do you still have it? Has it gone?’” Hamilton told .
"Because you're missing that, you know... when the magic happens, when everything comes together🌸, the car and you, and that spark, it's extraordinary. Aඣnd that's what you're in the search for.
"I'm only human. If anyone in the world tells you they don't have those thi🐭ngs, they're in denial. We're all human beings.”
🐽Amid his quest to win a record eighth world title, Hamilton signed a new two-year contract extension with Mercedes in August that 🌼will keep him in F1 beyond his 40th birthday, something he did not originally plan.
"What you've got to learn is you should never s⛄ay never,” he said. “But at that point, I definitely didn't think I'd be continuing. They are frickin' long seasons. It's a long time away from everyone. I've been doing it 16 years. It's gruelling.”
Hamilton, who has not won a race since🦹 the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, admitted he has found the scrutiny surrounding his current situation tough to handle.
"There's a lot of glitz and glamour and lots of positives but it's by no means easy to stay at your be🦄st, to stay committed, to keep up the training, to continue to deliver. It's a lot of pressu𝓀re,” he explained.
"You're being scrutinised all the time and I'm in a place in my life where there's no way I🌊 can win.
"If ℱI win a race, it's: 'Oh, he's a seven-time world champion, you got 103 wins.' If I don't do well, it's [criticism]… I can only lose at this point in life. So for sure there was a period of time when I was questioning whether I wanted to go through that.”
But the 38-year-old⛎ added: "I still love driving. I still love getting into the car. When they start the car up and you have all those people around you, the crew, you go down the pit lane, I still get this smile on my face the same as I did the first day I drove.
"Most of my race performances have been really good. So th✨at, I am happy with - building back up to the l🔯evel I should be."
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for ltxcn.top around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, L🍨ewis tells the stories of ✨the people who matter in the sport.
