Lewis Hamilton said that he has no issues with Max Verstappen and that the latter did what any driver would do.
Lewis Hamilton lost the 2021 championship following a controversial decision that was made by the race director Michael Masi. Max Verstappen capitalised on the situation to overtake Hamilton on fresh tyres in the final lap and win his maiden title.
Following the controversial outcome of the race, Hamilton went silent for almost two months. The events of the race raised questions about the legitimacy of Verstappen’s win. The chaos got even worse when a radio message between Masi and Red Bull’s Jonathan Wheatley went viral.
During Mercedes’ W13 launch event, Hamilton was asked whether the relationship with his rival would be affected this year, he said, “this has nothing to do with Max.”
“Max did everything a driver would do given the opportunity he was given. He is a great competitor and we will go into another battle like we did last year and conduct ourselves. We will obviously grow from the races and experiences we had last year also this season.”
“[I have] no issues with him. I don’t hold any grudges with anybody and don’t think that is ever a good thing to carry around with you so I move forwards. I don’t dwell on the past and I feel fresh, feel centred and fully focused.”
“[I] don’t have anything holding me back this year. Not that I did last year but I am not letting that experience be one of those.”
Lewis Hamilton has entered the new season in “attack mode”
Hamilton wants to put all that happened in 2021 behind him. He wishes to come back as the best possible version of himself.
“With these long seasons, the off-time isn’t as long as you would hope for. It seems to get shorter and shorter,” he added.
“But I think over the years, I’ve learned how to be efficient with my time, with my recovery, with training and building back up both your body and your mind. I feel great, I feel fit.
“Naturally, when you have an extra year of experience under your belt, that always helps. I always feel like, through these sorts of experiences, you can turn that emotion into strength and power. That’s what I’m doing.
“I’m putting that into my training, putting that into the work that I have with the men and women here in this team. If you think what you saw at the end of the last year was my best, wait until you see this year…”
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