Hamilton – “Incredible” but "confusing" to see fans back at the track

Lewis Hamilton has revealed it is "incredible" to see fans returning in numbers to the track in Monaco this weekend but feels ‘confused’ by the varying states of the coronavirus pandemic around the world.

The sport remains on course to complete a 23-race calendar this season despite the cancellation of the Canadian Grand Prix and also its replacement in Turkey, with a second Austrian race added to fill the void.

Hamilton, however, is conscious of the challenging situations in many places around the world and said: “It’s pretty incredible to think that after a year of having the pandemic we are back here.

"It’s crazy because you’re seeing on the news so many different things. You see people struggling in India and Brazil and then you see other places that are opening up, so it’s very confusing.

"We’re back at the Grand Prix here, where there’s a lot of fans, which is great to see but it’s quite confusing.”

Hamilton’s comments came in a pre-weekend press conference in Monaco, where he exchanged views with former world champion Fernando Alonso on how the pandemic has affected the sport and life in general.

Alonso, who has returned to F1 this season after two years away, added: “On the racing side, the pandemic did affect everyone.

"Even the teams now, they need to travel with a lot of restrictions and they cannot come back home between races and it is more demanding for everyone, that’s for sure. But in a way, we feel privileged to keep doing what is our job.

"This weekend is a good step to see spectators with a lot of them at the track and in the grandstands and it is the right direction for the next couple of months, hopefully, we will see more and more.”

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