Now that the substantial dust has settled after a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix, race winner Lewis Hamilton has hailed his team’s achievement this year as they wrapped up the constructors’ title to make it ten championships in the bag in five years for the Silver Arrows.
Hamilton took his 72nd career victory on the day at Interlagos, his tenth of the 2018 season and second at the venue named after the late F1 race driver Carlos Pace. The result in Brazil marks the 50th win of the hybrid era, which means that he won more than 50 percent of the 99 grand prix races since 2014
Speaking after celebrating with his team in Sao Paulo, the World Champion told reporters, “That’s real history in the making for the team. If I were to stop today with Mercedes, I would always remember this day and that I was a part of it and that’s so cool.”
“This has been a seriously tough year and everyone on this team has fought so hard, harder than we’ve ever fought and we’re the most united that we’ve ever been – which is not expected when you’ve had success in previous years and could easily drop the ball.”
“The guys have been continuing to raise the bar. Today was such a tough race for me, but I really wanted to deliver and win this for the team. It has such a big knock-on effect; everyone on the team can now go into the last race and into the winter, knowing that they won the world title and that they’re legends.”
Lewis: This is a high but I want to stay on that wave and win the next race as well
“I am so grateful for all the hard work – here at the track, back home at the factories, at Petronas and all of our partners – I’m so proud to be part of this team. I’m actually kind of nervous to go back to the factories and hear the roar – I think the atmosphere is going to be incredible.”
Hamilton’s victory was a tad fortuitous as he inherited the lead after Max Verstappen was punted into a spin when lapping Esteban Ocon. Then late in the race, with tyres fast fading, he did enough to keep the hard-charging Dutchman at bay.
He said of his race, “I didn’t expect the Red Bulls to be in the race like that today, I thought they’d be in a similar pace to us, but they were quite a bit quicker. We struggled with the tyres in the first stint and they were able to manage the tyres better than us.”
“In the second stint, I was on the Medium tyre and had an issue with the engine, so I was really just trying to bring the car across the line. Max passed me which was painful, but then they had an issue and all of a sudden I was back in the lead.”
“I was on the radio, telling my engineers: I don’t want to give it up, tell me what I need to do. I was pushing so hard at the end, taking every risk to bring it home with a win. This is a high, but I want to stay on that wave and win the next race as well,” added Hamilton.