Hamilton: Congested season "a real challenge"

Lewis Hamilton has described the 2020 Formula 1 season as "a challenge" with the first nine races being spread across an 11 week period.

Liberty Media and Formula 1 are attempting to run a season as close in length as is possible to the originally scheduled 22 race calendar.

However, starting the season five months later than planned and with strict procedures in place, this has required huge levels of sacrifice on the part of drivers, team personnel and everyone involved in the sport.

Asked how hard it was to keep up his mental fitness with so little time away from the track, Hamilton admitted: “It’s definitely a challenge. Obviously, everyone’s in the same boat. It definitely is, I would say probably the journey of a Formula 1 driver fighting for a championship can often feel like a lonely journey.

“That’s magnified this year. Obviously, having to limit the people who are in your bubble and of course moving around."

In a normal year, Hamilton would have been travelling between races to fulfill his commitments away from the track, but this has not been possible in 2020.

On this, Hamilton added: “What I used to do in the past was, the travelling was other things that I was finding positive, but getting to be around friends, to find the perfect balance this year, it’s much, much harder to implement those other things which keep a balance.

“This year is kind of the lone – I don’t know how to put the words together, but everyone is doing it.

“It’s a real challenge, a real test mentally for me personally. I don’t know how it is for you guys. Maybe you’re seeing your families and stuff but I’m not.

“But as you can see, I’m focussed and as driven as ever. It’s a marathon not a sprint. I’ll keep my head down.

“I know that I’ll get to enjoy myself a little bit more at the end of the year where nothing is particularly at risk and can hopefully be with family then.”

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