Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: Mercedes' work undervalued and underestimated

It's not just a race weekend that requires attention.

Martin Macdonald

Friday 25 October 2019 11:54

Lewis Hamilton believes that casual Formula 1 fans “underestimate and undervalue” the amount of work that Mercedes go through in terms of race preparation and the race proper.

Viewers can currently see a whole GP weekend from the practice session, to press conferences, to qualifying, to the race on Sunday. But, the Brit says this is the tip of the iceberg for a team like the Silver Arrows who are performing to the highest level near enough ever race.

“Punching out these performances each weekend in, weekend out for us guys it’s such a hard task and I think people underestimate and undervalue how hard that is,” he said ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.

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“Perhaps other athletes would understand because they go to competition after competition but it’s really hard because people turn on the TV and see a few hours of our weekend but there’s a massive amount of work that goes on obviously in the background, which you guys will know, obviously.

Hamilton reveals biggest challenge in 2019 seasonRead more

“I think it’s really just trying to continue to make… keep the team motivated, steering them in the right direction – because they can easily go in the wrong direction quite often with these cars nowadays.”

Hamilton currently leads the drivers’ championship with four races to go in Mexico, the United States, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi, and could win the title this weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez if he outscores team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 14 points.

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