Seven titles for Mercedes "something to tell my grandchildren one day" - Lewis Hamilton

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Seven titles for Mercedes "something to tell my grandchildren one day" - Hamilton

Mercedes took its seventh successive constructors' championship in Italy

Ewan Gale

Sunday 1 November 2020 15:17 Updated: 15:26

Lewis Hamilton revealed Mercedes' achievement of winning seven consecutive constructors' championships was "overwhelming" and said he would be "forever grateful" for the effort put in by the Brackley and Brixworth-based team.

Hamilton led home team-mate Valtteri Bottas for a Mercedes one-two to wrap up the title with four races still to run, with Max Verstappen's retirement marking the end of Red Bull's faint challenge.

After initially making a poor start and dropping behind Verstappen to third, Hamilton extended his first stint and profited from a virtual safety car - deployed to recover Esteban Ocon's stricken Renault.

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The championship leader, who conceded it was "an exhausting race", lay testament to the work his team had done over the last seven years.

"It is just really overwhelming right now," he said. "I just look at my crew and I know all the men and women back at the factory in Brackley and Brixworth who are the unsung heroes.

"They are the ones who really grafted away, have never given up and continued to push and elevate and innovate.

"People watch it and maybe think we are used to this but it always feels like the first with this team and I think that is because of the spirit.

"I am forever grateful to everyone to be a part of it, to be part of breaking a record like this. No one has ever done this before.

"We have got a great leader [Toto Wolff} in our team. Thank you to Mercedes and Petronas and all the partners because we can't do what we do without them."

Continuing to pay tribute to his team, Hamilton pointed to the relentless nature of his crew in being able to perform at the highest level race after race.

"It is unbelievable," he added. "To come back year on year, whilst we have great performance, it is not easy to continue to deliver weekend in, weekend out for everyone.

"They are so precise with how they take the car apart and how they put it back together weekend in, weekend out. Seven-time champs. Wow! That is something I can tell my grandchildren one day."

Before you go...

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