Lewis Hamilton has described winning at home as the “greatest single moment for an athlete”.
The man from Stevenage became the most successful driver in the history of the British Grand Prix, winning for a sixth time at Silverstone on Sunday.
Having declared post-race the thrill of victory remains just as high as it was after his first success in 2008, he admitted the honour of winning in front of his home crowd may be higher.
“This is the greatest single moment of any athlete in the world to wave their flag as the number one or with gold or whatever it may be in their home country,” he said to Crash.net.
“I come here and I look at all this incredible support.
“They always ask you ‘how much does it lift you up’ and it’s a huge amount of energy but a lot of weight comes with that, a lot of responsibility.
“People buy merchandise and flags and you just want to deliver for them so much, not only for yourself and your own ability, you can do it with your team.”
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As mentioned, Sunday’s success moved Hamilton one clear of Jim Clark and Alain Prost as the first six-time winner of the British GP, it also moved the 34-year-old upto 80 career wins, 11 short of the all-time record set by Michael Schumacher.
“It feels incredible,” the Mercedes driver commented. “I’ve not really been one to look at statistics. I really take it one race at a time and I like the approach that I have with that.
“Unless I stop and think of how many wins I have I didn’t really know if I had four, five, or whatever it was here [at Silverstone].
“To then hear that I have six and to be up there with the greats is one of the coolest things.
“One day I will look back and have a picture of me in the car with that flag and I will always be able to look at that and smile until my dying day,” he concluded.