Hamilton spurred by one-point title agony in fastest-lap quest
Hamilton spurred by one-point title agony in fastest-lap quest
Lewis Hamilton has revealed to being motivated by the pain of his 2007 Formula 1 world title defeat as the reason behind his bid to secure the fastest lap in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Over the closing stages of the race at the Hungaroring, and with Hamilton cantering to victory, he could be heard debating with his Mercedes team the merits of strapping on a fresh set of tyres.
Hamilton was initially dissuaded from taking on the soft compound for the final 10 laps for fear of them quickly graining and him potentially falling into the clutches of second-placed Max Verstappen.
Instead, the move was made with four laps remaining, leading to Hamilton setting the fastest lap on 68 - so taking the point for the quickest lap of the race off team-mate Valtteri Bottas - and again on the last of the 70, just for good measure.
Explaining his rationale, Hamilton said: "Ultimately, I knew that Valtteri had the fastest lap, and he only had the fastest lap because he had done two stops. He obviously had done a good job but he had the extra stop.
"We're in a period of time where I know what's it's like to lose the world championship by one point [in '07 to Kimi Raikkonen], so I'm not giving up anything unless I have to.
"We've experienced it before, and I know from experience how to manage it and not take too much risk that I lose everything.
"I trust the team implicitly in terms of their calls, and the pit stop crew, and I think it was the right choice at the end of the day."
As to his quickest lap at the death, which proved to be a new race lap record, Hamilton added: "I did two [fastest laps] because on the first I got traffic, and in my mind, I didn't know if anyone else had stopped and if they were going to jump that time.
"It wasn't a clean lap so I had to do it again just in case it got nipped because I would not have been happy if I'd crossed the line and I'd lost that one point because I hadn't pushed enough."
Before you go...
Albon mystified by night-and-day Red Bull
Brawn on Racing Point case: Copying has been rife in F1 for years
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Horner Red Bull saga in new 'evidence' update as big F1 star left 'very angry' - GPFans F1 Recap
- 4 minutes ago
Cocky sporting legend CHALLENGES Hamilton in stunning claim
- 1 hour ago
Ricciardo boss in 'super disappointing' claim amid RB stars' performance
- 2 hours ago
F1 team 'set to announce MEGA signing' in major Red Bull challenge
- 3 hours ago
Horner in BRUTAL Wolff swipe amid Verstappen to Mercedes links
- Yesterday 19:57
Hamilton car camera captures Verstappen's TRUE feelings toward F1 rival
- Yesterday 18:57
Related news
Hamilton car camera captures Verstappen's TRUE feelings toward F1 rival
Hamilton form raises Ferrari F1 move fears
Fierce Hamilton F1 rival raises timing issue for Ferrari move
Rosberg reveals Wolff MISTAKE in managing infamous Hamilton dynamic
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860