“Thinking of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost”: 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton feeling privileged to drive around historic Suzuka circuit

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton is relishing F1’s return to the iconic Suzuka circuit after a two-season gap. 

The Suzuka circuit is one of the most iconic on the F1 calendar. It has been a mainstay for many years, but got canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Restrictions in Japan were finally eased in 2022 which saw the Japanese GP return to the schedule.

Hamilton has raced in Suzuka many times during in F1 career. However, upon the sport’s return to the track, he shared just how privileged he feels to be a part of such a historic event. In the Inside Line F1 podcast, the Mercedes driver explained how he thinks of all the former legends every time he drives at Suzuka.

“You come up to the last chicane on turn one,” Hamilton said. “Thinking of Senna and Prost. And you realize what a privilege it is. To drive at a place that has had so much history.”

Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost have had some of the best races at the Suzuka Circuit and produced some of the most heated incidents over there. This includes the infamous crash between Senna and Prost (both of whom were driving for McLaren) which decided the 1989 F1 World Title.

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Why did Lewis Hamilton think about Prost and Senna at Suzuka?

The penultimate race of the 1989 season took place in Japan. Prost entered the race with a 16 point lead, which meant that Senna had to win to keep his Title hopes alive. If Senna won in both Japan and the subsequent race in Australia, he would win the Championship.

Unfortunately for Senna, it was Prost who was the stronger driver on the day. This led to the former taking things in his own hand, and crashing into his teammate. Prost thought that he had won the Title and began unbuckling his seatbelt, only for Senna to continue with his race.

The Brazilian F1 legend ended up finishing P1, but was disqualified after the race. Consequently, Senna would go into the final round training Prost by 16 points which meant that he couldn’t win the Title anymore.

Also read: How Williams had to pay $80,000 fine for Pastor Maldonado’s car at Japanese GP

Hamilton to start 2022 Japanese GP from P6

The 2022 season has been incredibly underwhelming for Hamilton. He has won a race every single year since making his F1 debut in 2007 but if he fails to win one in the next five, a legendary streak will be coming to an end.

After eight years of domination, Mercedes don’t have the strongest car anymore. Thus, their ability to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari has been very limited and they haven’t been able to compete for wins. The 2022 Japanese GP has been another disappointing outing up until now for Mercedes. Hamilton qualified in P6 whereas George Russell qualified P8.

Hamilton will be hoping that his W13 can find some race pace on Sunday, so that he can finish as high up as possible at a circuit which he holds in such high regard.