Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time. He is the most successful driver in the sport’s history with the highest number of race wins, pole positions & fastest laps to his name. The only record that he is yet to break is that of Michael Schumacher’s seven championship wins which is something he shares.
He has been through some iconic moments throughout his illustrious career but there was one instance that made his life flash in front of his eyes. Hamilton wasn’t talking about any negative moment or a big crash he went through. In fact, he was referring to the moment he realized he became a seven-time world champion.
Hamilton’s seventh title win came in 2020, when he took the chequered flag at Turkish Grand Prix. He admitted that a lot was going through his mind during the last lap at the Istanbul park, and his whole life flashed in front of his eyes.
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Lewis Hamilton why Turkish GP win was so emotional
2020 was a very difficult year for everyone around the world. The onset of the Covid 19 pandemic changed everyone’s lives and every sector around the world including sports suffered. On top of that, 2020 was the year when the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement accelerated after the killing of George Floyd in the USA.
All these situations were playing inside Hamilton’s head when he was about to cross the line and like always, he wanted to dedicated his win to the affected people. Hamilton also wanted to act as an inspiration for all the kids who were at home watching him.
“Honestly, my whole life flashed by,” he said on the Jay Shetty podcast. “During that last lap in Turkey, my whole life, all the struggles, questioning whether you were going to make it or not, all those doubts, all those fears, kind of flashed through my eyes.”
“I came across the line and I was like, ‘I did it’, and I want the kids out there to know that you can do it too. So that’s what I try, every day, just try to be encouraging of kids.”
Also read: Nico Rosberg Once Had To Remind a Journalist That He is F1 World Champion
Hamilton aiming for a bounce-back 2023 season
Hamilton’s last title win came in 2020 when he equaled Schumacher’s record of seven wins. The very next year, he suffered a heartbreaking loss to Max Verstappen on the final lap to miss out on the eighth. On the other hand, 2022 turned out to be worst year of his career in terms of results.
For the first time ever, he went through an entire season without winning a single race, and finished P6 in the drivers’ championship. Mercedes will be hoping to have a better car for 2023, and Hamilton will head into the campaign, aiming to secure his eighth world championship.
