Lewis Hamilton: Waving British flag at Silverstone will make me smile until my dying day

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: Waving British flag at Silverstone will make me smile until my dying day

No questioning his 'Britishness' now.

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 17 July 2019 19:07

Lewis Hamilton said the opportunity to life the British flag after securing victory in the British Grand Prix will sustain his happiness for life, labelling the honour the ultimate achievement for any sportsperson.

Hamilton secured a record-breaking sixth win on home soil at Silverstone last weekend, cementing top spot in the drivers' championship as a result.

Away from the track, Hamilton come out in defence of his 'Britishness' in a curious change of pace in Thursday's press conference. A journalist querying whether Hamilton's decision to live in Monaco lessened the scope of his ability to connect with British fans.

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However, Hamilton was handed a Union Jack on his cooldown lap, and spoke of just how much the home win meant to him, when the topic resurfaced post-race.

"This is the greatest single moment of any athlete in the world – to raise their flag as the number one or with the gold or whatever it may be in their home country," he said.

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"It's one of the single most incredible feelings and special moments an athlete can have.

"I come here and I've got this incredible support. They always talk about how much does it lift you up and it's a huge amount of energy but a lot of weight comes with that, a lot of responsibility.

"People save up so much money to come to this grand prix. Everybody is buying merchandise and flags and you just want to deliver for them so much. Not only for yourself and your own ability, you know you can do it, but for your team.

"I've got like 40 family members here – from my mum's side, from my dad's side, a bunch of them from the Caribbean. So I just really, really wanted to deliver.

"And when you achieve something like today and you see all those British flags, I was looking the whole time for a flag, 'someone give me a flag', because one day I'm going to be able to look back and I'll have that picture of me in the car with that flag and I'll always be able to smile until my dying day."