“I’ve had seasons without victories before, karting in 2001”: Lewis Hamilton cites his winless season 21 years ago as his motivation to comeback in 2023

For the first time in his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton went without a win in 2022. Only Michael Schumacher has an equally long streak of at least one win a season. However, unlike Hamilton, the German race driver didn’t win a race in his first season, unlike Hamilton.

Moreover, Schumacher also won no race when he returned to F1 with Mercedes. That being his last race win was with Ferrari. So, Schumacher had over four seasons without a win. On the other hand, Hamilton 2022 is the only blot in his career.

However, the seven-time world champion is not bothered by his streak ending. He is motivated to come back and seeks inspiration from a rather too-old and unusual timeline.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton would outrank Michael Schumacher if Ferrari legend had modern points scoring system

Lewis Hamilton finds inspiration from his 21-year-old debacle

Hamilton was a force to reckon with in every feeder series he participated in during his youth. The 37-year-old was touted for glory, and his incredible race craft brought teams to him even though he never had considerable financial backing from his family.

But there was a time when Hamilton had struck a lean patch. According to his own words, the Briton went through without any wins across the entirety of 2001. And after 21 years, it’s giving him the inspiration to make a comeback in 2023.

“It definitely doesn’t demotivate me! I’m sure I’ve had seasons without victories before – that should have been in karting in 2001 (…) Nevertheless, some results felt like victories, even if they were none,” said Hamilton.

Going out as a champion

In the last decade, Hamilton had won six championships. Nobody else has been even close to that level of domination throughout the turbo-hybrid era. Even in 2021, when he lost the championship for the first time since 2016, he missed the title by a few points and a controversial end.

Only 2022 can be considered an underwhelming year for him. But now, ahead of the new season, he is eyeing getting back into the championship fight, and even Mercedes are ready to do the required development for it.

He recently talked about how his sole focus is getting his eighth championship. He even added that he could retire after that as it would feel nice to go out of the sport as a world champion.

His new teammate George Russell is coming out to be his first big challenge ahead of 2023. Russell became Hamilton’s third teammate in F1 to outscore him and is giving hints that his compatriot may no longer be the hegemon at the Silver Arrows.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton wants these midfield teams to join the 2023 Championship battle

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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