In Hungary, Lewis Hamilton stood on the podium for the 200th time in his career, but again indicated that he was not interested in statistics…
Q: Lewis, congratulations. 200 podiums is a whole cabinet of trophies. You’ve often said you don’t like statistics, but this achievement means something, doesn’t it?
Lewis hamilton: Numbers don’t mean anything. Now I think about Oscar and Lando, how young these boys are. They were still in diapers when I started, so…
I don’t think about statistics, I think about all the great people I’ve had the pleasure of working with. You know, I was signed by McLaren when I was 13 years old, and I’ve always loved this team very much, we’ve come a long way together, I won my first world championship. Then they started going through difficult times, and now they’re winning again – it’s great! I’m happy for them.
It was a tough race, I definitely didn’t think I would get 200 podiums. How far did I travel? Like 340 races? Not a bad result, but I couldn’t have done it without all the great people I worked with in both teams.
Q: Can you tell us something about the contact with Max? He said on the radio that you skidded under braking. How did you feel about that?
Lewis hamilton: As far as I can remember, we were a lap down before that. I was in the braking zone and Max came forward to pass the car behind me, so I moved to protect myself. I left enough space inside and was about to turn, but Max locked up the tires and drove in a different direction – over me. A very common racing incident. This is an easy mistake to make. So I don’t think there should be any animosity. But of course, from his side it will always be like that.
Q: Lewis, there is a small fan next to you, what do you think of the FIA’s idea of creating a cooling system for the cockpit and the drivers?
Lewis hamilton: Hearing it for the first time. It’s not necessary. This is Formula 1. It’s always been like this. Yes, sometimes it’s hard for us, but we’re well-paid athletes. And you have to train to withstand the heat. I don’t think we need air conditioning in the car.
Q: Did you expect to fight with Max before the start, or did it come as a surprise to you?
Lewis hamilton: I think in terms of pure speed we were not ready yet. Unfortunately there is not enough of it, especially in hot conditions…
You saw in Austria and here that we can’t drive the same pace as these guys. In the first lap I was surprised when I could stay behind Max. I didn’t even have to attack seriously to stay a second behind him. At that moment I thought I had a chance, but in the second lap the situation changed and the true speed of the car came out.
But we made the cut and track position is clearly crucial on this circuit and in the end it was the deciding factor.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
