F1 News
Hamilton: 'Then was similar to this season with Mercedes'
- Ludo van Denderen
For more than two years, Lewis Hamilton has been dry in terms of Grand Prix victories. Never in his career had the most successful F1 driver of all time had to wait so long for a victory in motorsport's premier class - not counting his youth years.
It is not strange to assume that the current period at Mercedes is difficult for a born winner like Hamilton to digest. Especially when he had to race in a W14 in which Hamilton did not feel comfortable. Still, the '23 car was not the worst car the Briton raced in Formula 1.
Hamilton looks back on McLaren's years not happy
"The 2009 McLaren was terrible," Hamilton told Motorsport Aktuell. "Even though we won after a big upgrade. 2010 and 2011 weren't great years either. Once the problem was with me, the other time with the car. Perhaps the last two seasons were the biggest drought in terms of results, but if we exclude the victories in the three McLaren years I mentioned, they were similar experiences."
At now 38 years of age, Hamilton now knows better how to deal with such, tricky situations. The Mercedes driver says he can remain mentally stable in such cases, and has learned to think positively. Yet Hamilton, too, sometimes has doubts about himself. "I think I've learnt how to stay mentally stable in these situations. And I've also added a few new tools to my armoury to help me think positively. I'm almost 39 years old and I feel great in my body."