Hamilton hopes he has ‘gained strength’ from Abu Dhabi ‘trauma’

Lewis Hamilton hopes he has “gained strength” from the “trauma” of last year’s Formula 1 championship loss in Abu Dhabi.

The Briton appeared on course for a record eighth world title at Yas Marina before a late Safety Car mired in controversy over then-race director Michael Masi’s handling of the restart.

In an effort to ensure a green-flag finish, Masi only permitted the lapped cars between Hamilton and Max Verstappen to overtake before immediately pulling in the Safety Car for a final lap showdown.

Verstappen, on fresher, softer tyres, then overtook the Mercedes driver to take the win and become champion for the first time.

While Lewis was gracious in defeat in Abu Dhabi, he would go on a social media hiatus until February, when preparations for this season began.

And, at the British GP, the 37-year-old reflected on the emotions from that day last December. 

“That will always be with me,” he admitted to Channel 4.

“I think when anyone experiences this trauma because it can be a traumatic experience when you lose something that you’ve worked hard for, whatever it may be.

“So I think that will always be a part of me, but I would like to think that I’ve gained strength from it, I would say.”

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Seven months on, however, Hamilton does admit he has moved on from Abu Dhabi.

“It’s not something I’m looking back on and thinking about ever, to be honest. I’m just looking forward,” he added.

“What I am grateful for is still the love that I have for my job, for the sport, and the support that I have within the sport but also seeing the change that’s slowly starting to happen.”

Hamilton’s next bid for an eighth world title will have to wait until 2023 as the new regulations for this year have seen Mercedes fall back off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari.

In fact, Lewis is currently on the longest winless streak of his F1 career and his record of winning in every season since 2007 is in jeopardy.

But after so many years of success, the Briton points out it is not a new situation for him to be happy with podiums or even less.

“My life has not always been like the seven years have you seen,” he said. “It’s not always been like that.

“Of course, I’ve had a lot of success throughout my career but you just change, prioritise differently, you change your expectations, and you adjust and you dig in.

“That’s what we’re doing as a team. We’re just like, huddling together and we’re working. It’s actually, it’s just different.

“There are people in my team who have only known success, winning championships, because they were young.

“But there are people who have been with the team for 20 plus years, who have been through the struggles and now are kind of revisiting that partly.

“Obviously it’s not as bad as it perhaps was many many years ago, but this is actually a really interesting period of time where we’re pulling together with strength in other areas that perhaps when you are winning like we were you have some good time to focus on improving, like teamwork for example.”