Lewis Hamilton: Silverstone Has To Be on the Calendar

Lewis Hamilton says he’s more in love with Formula One right now than ever and that he cannot imagine a season without Silverstone in a Q&A from his official website that seems to be the big news of an incredibly slow weekend.

Although I do like Todd’s pick-up about Nick Heidfeld going to McLaren. If only I looked good in Macca colors.

This Hamilton interview has been floating around all weekend, but it still is showing up—probably for one of two reasons: 1. Hamilton is pretty bankable when it comes to people’s interests and 2. it is, as I said, slow out there in the F1 news world.

I thought Todd fairly successfully reacted to Sir Frank WIlliams’ comments by putting hit thoughts in between the questions. So here is the whole Q&A , only broken up—but nothing has been left out.

A few quick preliminary thoughts, though. I’m much less a “Hamilton hater” than many. I agree his father has done his son’s image a lot of hurt, and I certainly don’t “like” Anthony Hamilton. And Lewis has had a few immature moments that have made it easy to point at him and say he lucked his way into a great McLaren car and he’s presented himself at times in an polished and off-putting way. I also think his handling of “Lie-gate” to start the season was pathetic; he was old enough to make the right decision there.

But he can drive. And as I posted after Abu Dhabi, I think he finally started to show the maturity that could help bring him a handful, perhaps, of titles.

And I’ll wade into one other Lewis Hamilton issue. After having been to Monza and seeing the crowds and thinking of all the paddock photos I’ve seen, I am sure Lewis Hamilton has had to deal a lot with his race—in ways obvious to him and perhaps in ways less so.

I recognize that Northern Italy is not the most diverse area, but the crowd at Monza was speaking just about every European language there is. And that crowd was very white. I’ll take the leap that the crowds in Germany, Monaco, Hungary, Belgium, and other tracks are mostly white, as well, and don’t necessarily reflect the diversity of the cities and countries where those races are held.

Formula One is and has been an elite sport, from the “gentleman driver” days to today when you have to have millions and millions of dollars to participate. It is changing, and Hamilton—like him or not—is part of that changing landscape—whether he likes it or not, come to think of it.

I don’t mean to dive too deeply into this issue; I, just as Monza, was struck by what it must be like for Hamilton. We’ve seen the overt shows of racism; I’m more thinking about the less obvious signs that are there, just on the fringes.

And adding race into a mix that includes his overbearing dad, his immediate success at a top team, his relationship with Ron Dennis—well, I think Hamilton could have handled himself these past three years a lot worse given the situation he was in.

There—more context for my comments than you ever wanted. Here it Lewis, from his official site so it is a controlled interview without any tough follow-up questions.

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Lewis’s postseason Q&A
Friday, 06 November 2009
On Saturday, you looked unstoppable around the Abu Dhabi circuit, but the race brought the first mechanical retirement of your Formula 1 career – was it a weekend of mixed fortunes?
“Not really. Of course, it’s disappointing not to finish a race – particularly when you’re at the front leading it – but I have to be realistic: to have got through nearly three seasons of racing and to only now be stopped by a mechanical failure is an incredible statistic.
“You almost take reliability for granted these days, so it was weird to be stood in the garage watching the race rather than being in it. But I think we can all be proud of what we’ve achieved this year. We started the season with what was the slowest car in the field, but we never gave up, and on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, you could argue that we had the fastest car out there. That’s an absolutely incredible achievement – and I can’t think of a single team other than Vodafone McLaren Mercedes that could have done that.
“It would have been great to have won the race and sent us into the winter with our heads held high, but it wasn’t to be. I loved the circuit – for a new track, it has a good blend of corners and it needs you to be very focused and precise to get the best from the laptime. We’ll be back to try and win it next year!”

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This statement follows my “maturity” thinking; I really believe that Hamilton found the trust and faith in McLaren (especially the post-Dennis McLaren) that will make him a better teammate and better team member in 2010 and beyond. And that should worry his competition.

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Let’s look back over the season – it’s been a years of highs and lows, but what has been your highlight?
“I think there are a few moments that will stay with me from this year. The first was at Silverstone, where I arrived knowing that I wouldn’t be able to fight for a win, and where I was just overwhelmed by the amount of support from the people at the circuit. I would never have imagined it would have been such a positive and inspiring weekend for me – even if our results weren’t that great.
“I’d had such an amazing race at Silverstone in 2008, and it really meant a lot to me to see that people had kept the faith and were behind me even if I couldn’t score a win for them.
“On the track, one of my biggest highlights was in Germany, when we tried the upgrade package for the first time. Before I’d even driven the car, you could see that it was a big step – we’d completely changed the front wing, the top body and the floor, and there was a lot of pressure for it to be right – and it looked good, the car looked fantastic.
“And it only took me a few laps to realise that the car was an incredible improvement. Finally, after months of struggling, I could finally get the car to do what I wanted: I could get it turned in properly, and get hard on the power and just rely on the grip to get me out of a corner. Coming out of the Nurburgring hairpin and heading uphill into the fast esses, I accidentally left my radio switched on, and the whole team could hear me yelling and screaming because the car felt so good!
“I felt a bit embarrassed afterwards, especially when Martin told me he’d played the recording back to the whole team! But I can see now that that was important for everyone’s morale.
“The other highlight was winning in Hungary. I’d always said that winning a race this year was going to feel sweeter than anything else we’d achieved, just because it would be such a satisfying conclusion to all our hard work. And the Hungarian Grand Prix was just a dream come true – to be able to measure my pace over the others and to get the car home first was just unbelievable. Total satisfaction…”

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I may start to sound like a broken record—but there’s that maturity, again. And not just that he was embarrassed for the team to hear his screaming but that he’d be willing to relate that story to the public.

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Conversely, what was your toughest moment?
“There were a few. The first difficulty we faced this year was during testing: we knew the car wasn’t the fastest but, at the Barcelona test in week 11, it became really clear to us that we were struggling and we just didn’t have the pace of the frontrunners. I remember phoning Ron and Martin and explaining to them that we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to turn MP4-24 into a race winner.
“That was a difficult call, but Ron and Martin gave me their full support and we actually started to look at a rescue plan immediately – there was no waiting. So what was a difficult experience at first actually turned into a positive one.
“The other tough moment happened not long after, in Melbourne and Malaysia. And that was a difficult time for me personally – but I strongly believe that I used that experience to grow as a person and to become stronger through it. I’m a firm believer that every experience you have – even the bad ones – help to define and build your character. You can’t change the past, but you can definitely learn from it, and I overcame that situation in Melbourne, I had the courage and conviction to man up about it in Malaysia and, ultimately, I came out of it stronger.”

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Yep—broken record time. He brings up Melbourne, albeit a little obliquely. But perhaps this is evidence that “Lie-gate” was a big part of Hamilton’s maturing this year and getting, as he says, “stronger.”

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A few quick questions: what was your favourite circuit this year?
“Abu Dhabi was an absolutely incredible place, but the best circuit I visited all year was Suzuka. Monaco still has a very special place in my heart – and it’s totally unique – but Suzuka really is the greatest race track in the world.
“Also, I can’t not mention Silverstone – the older circuits on the calendar all have this incredible character – places like Silverstone, Monaco, Spa, Monza – they are the best circuits we visit, and we need them on the calendar. I know that Silverstone still isn’t confirmed for 2010 – but it has to be on the calendar, I can’t imagine racing in Formula 1 without it being there.”

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We are starting to see the growing support for Silverstone among current and former drivers, and I think that is one of the few areas of influence that could force Bernie Ecclestone’s hand. I may be a bit optimistic, but I think a strong show of unity on the drivers’ part would play a big role in solving the track issues in F1. [I wish he'd mentioned Canada, but he probably doesn't have the fondest memories of it.]

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Favourite race?
“Monza was good fun, but probably either Suzuka or Brazil. I raced my heart out at Suzuka, my battle with Jarno in the first stint was seriously hardcore – it was like doing 20 qualifying laps in a row. But Brazil was even crazier – the car was probably the best it has felt all year and I didn’t stop pushing from the first corner until the last corner. That was probably my best drive of the whole year.”
Proudest moment?
“Taking the team back to the top step of the podium in Hungary – and then having four weeks before the next race to hold onto it! Seriously, that was the greatest achievement of our season. I’m so proud of everyone who played a role in getting us back to the front. Believe me, we really deserved that result.”

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His mention of Monza is interesting, given the result. And that might be the best PR Jarno Trulli has had in years; I wonder if Lewis’ statement will seal Jarno at Lotus?

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What do you take away from this season?
“I’ve learnt a lot about effort, dedication, motivation: things that you almost take for granted when you are at the front, but which mean a lot more when you are fighting at the back. I’ve grown as a man, and as a driver – I’ve faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did – even from one year ago.
“I also think we are a much closer group now, too. We’ve known each other for one more season, and the physical bonds between us all are so much tighter – we’ve been through a lot together and we know each other a lot better. That’s something I really appreciate – and I think that will make us a better fighting unit next season.”

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This may be smart PR talk, but Hamiton here keys in on the most important thing: He’s now struggled at the back. He maybe could have used with an entire year of that struggle, but that the car’s problems were solved so quickly—and so much more quickly than any other team—obviously has given him confidence in his team. There also is something to said for going through a bit of adversity with people.

Of course, you have to keep it in perspective. Adversity here meant they were at the back of the F1 grid! Not the worst place in the world to be.

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What’s next for Lewis Hamilton?
“I’m at Brooklands this weekend for the Powered By Mercedes-Benz event – I’ll be there with Heikki, and we’ll be driving last year’s MP4-23. After that, I’m really going to start training hard: I want to start next season fitter than I’ve ever been, and I’ve been working with our team doctor to make sure that I’m better prepared than ever for the new year. I’ll be training hard, at home in Geneva and in Finland.
“After that, I’ll have a short break for Christmas – I’m not planning to go away anywhere, but I’ll probably spend it with my family. After that, it will be back to work – meetings with the engineers, the launch and testing the new car – which looks fantastic.
“To be honest, I’m ready to go racing again next week – at the moment, I think I can safely say that I’m more in love with Formula 1 than I’ve ever been, and I just can’t wait to get back out there again!”

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His “I’m more in love with Formula 1″ comment has been the lead on stories I’ve seen based on this interview. I agree it is important in that it shows he still has that “fire in the belly.” [By contrast, we all wonder about Kimi Raikkonen's fire, right?]

But we know Hamilton is fired up. Again, what comes through to me is not just that he wants to keep winning—but that he is gaining the perspective to do so.

Am I off base? Is he just a petulant and coddled driver?

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