Lewis Hamilton recently reflected on his journey to his 104th victory at the British Grand Prix, which he described as a ‘fairytale’. This win was especially meaningful because it marked his return to the top of the podium for the first time since 2021 after enduring two full seasons of Mercedes’ inability to compete with Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
Ever Since they introduced their major front-wing update in Canada, Mercedes have gotten better and better with each race. At Silverstone, they finally managed to lock out the front row of the grid for Sunday’s race. However, McLaren remained the favorite for the win and the looming wet conditions didn’t make the job any easier for the Mercedes duo.
Hamilton, who was being led by his teammate George Russell for most of the first stint and then by the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the second stint, got lucky. Russell faced a water pump issue and had to retire the car mid-race, while McLaren made bad strategy calls to ruin the chance of victory for both their drivers.
The biggest mistake from McLaren came during the final pitstops when they left Norris out for an extra lap and also put him on the wrong set of tires (softs). What helped Hamilton further is that even Max Verstappen didn’t have the pace of the front runners throughout the race.
Sir Lewis Hamilton’s full sky sports interview after his 104th win ~ for the geoblocked :
(the way rosa is reacting to him and looking at him, the way natalie is also so emotional. this is incredible to watch and his words here are so heartbreakingly beautiful ❤️) pic.twitter.com/jKSawb0UMF
— sim (@sim3744) July 9, 2024
Hamilton spoke about the victory in an exclusive with Esquire. When asked about his feelings after the win, Hamilton admitted he did not expect that a victory was possible going into the weekend. Hamilton stated,
“Everyone was talking about it being this fairytale. And it really, really was unexpected… And it had been such a long time. So many thoughts cross your mind. Some of them you start to potentially believe in, bit by bit. And finally, I had that day when I was able to excel, and we excelled as a team.”
Hamilton opens up on how his struggles helped him become better
Reflecting on the past few challenging years, Hamilton spoke candidly about the mental struggles he faced during his winless streak. He emphasized the importance of persistence and hard work.
Hamilton also shared insights into his personal growth during this period. He learned to endure pain and continue moving forward despite setbacks. “I think I learned that life is really about how much pain you can experience and keep going”, he revealed.
It also helped him become a better teammate as he mentioned how in these two years he held more communication with the rest of the people on his Mercedes team.
