Lewis Hamilton warns society must retain its lockdown learnings

Lewis Hamilton

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Hamilton warns society must retain its lockdown learnings

Hamilton reflects on the changes he has witnessed over the last 12 months

Sam Hall

Monday 12 July 2021 05:00

Lewis Hamilton has warned things cannot be allowed to return to the pre-Covid status quo after witnessing positive change across the past 12 months.

The Austrian Grand Prix marked one year since F1 returned to actioned after the emergence of coronavirus forced the sport to postpone its calendar indefinitely in early 2020.

Although the sport was able to return last July, for many, lockdown became the new normal but Hamilton believes this slower pace to life allowed conversations on social issues to bloom.

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“Naturally, it has given us all more time to think about things since we have been isolated," he said.

"I think people or businesses have seen that they can work remotely, that technology has advanced. People are more focused on the environment which I think has been positive in many respects in terms of peoples education.

“We’ve had the social and the racial discussion that has also had time for people to focus on so I think there have been lots of positives to take away from this period of time and I hope that humanity has learnt from this experience.

“There has got to be learnings from it because otherwise we just go back to where we were before. I don’t know if it’s going to be positive for a little while but I definitely think there are lots of positives and for me personally, it is how I manage time, it is about being present.

"It is about being sure you are maximising in the day rather than thinking too far ahead."

Hamilton avoiding negativity

After finishing fourth in Austria last time out, Hamilton now trails champiopnship-leader Max Verstappen by 32 points, with Mercedes 44 points off Red Bull in the constructors' battle heading into the British Grand Prix weekend.

Despite the margin, the seven-time champion is keen to avoid falling into a spiral of negative thoughts.

He explained: “Obviously, they’re continuing to take steps forward but I can’t get tied up and get into that negative bubble of worrying.

"All I do right now is just try to put all the energy into making sure I’m best prepared, helping the engineers be best prepared, lots of conversations and this is just the time where we come together, we unite and we work as hard as we can to rectify whatever issues we have."