Mercedes sees 'love of winning' as Hamilton's main strength
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton has won six world titles in the last 10 seasons at Mercedes and, according to Andrew Shovlin, that is for good reason. The German formation's top man notices that the Briton is still working annually to move the team forward.
Shovlin states in a conversation with Motorsport.com that he has been working with Hamilton for quite some time and that he was impressed by the feeling Hamilton has for his car. According to Shovlin, the successful driver has a keen sense of where there are gains to be made.
"Lewis, as a driver, puts an awful lot of effort into looking for where that edge is going to come from," he stated. "That constant searching for how he can emerge into a new season as an even better driver than the one that we had before is just borne out of his love of winning."
For Hamilton, only winning counts
This was evident in part from Hamilton's former teammates. Nico Rosberg was the only one who managed to keep Hamilton from the world title in his best seasons. The German took the top prize in Formula 1 in 2016. His successor Valtteri Bottas then couldn't match his teammate's performance for years.
Last season, Hamilton struggled against George Russell. The talent had an excellent start to the racing year and, despite Hamilton fighting back, kept his compatriot behind him in the world championship. That year, too, Shovlin saw Hamilton's strength. "He doesn’t want to be beaten," he said.