Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is not giving up after Sunday’s disappointing Mexico Grand Prix where Red Bull driver Max Verstappen extends his lead to 19 points.
He finished second behind Verstappen who is emerging as a new era driver and giving Hamilton sleepless nights.
Hamilton says he is now focused more than ever even as retaining his world championship title looks becomes a daunting task.
Lewis Hamilton. [Indiana Express]
Hamilton Reacts After Mexico GP Defeat
He says that a time has come for him to dig deeper than he has ever done. For now, Hamilton is picking himself up.
“I left it all out there and sometimes that’s just not enough. We pick ourselves up, dig deeper than we ever have before, and keep on fighting,” he says.
The 36-year-old Briton congratulated Mexico’s Checo after an impressive performance in his first GP.
“I’ve got to wish Checo congrats — first Mexican driver to ever take the podium at the Mexico GP.
With resilience to retain his title, Hamilton’s full focus is on the remaining races, the next one coming on Sunday in Sao Paulo.
It is one of the four remaining races that Hamilton seeks redemption with after finishing 6.5sec behind Verstappen in Mexico.
Toto Wolf, the Mercedes Team principal during a debrief on Monday said that they are not letting the championship slip away.
Hamilton Vs Verstappen Popularity
A fortnight ago, it emerge that Hamilton is no longer Formula 1 (F1) most popular driver. Verstappen is after beating him beat him in a new Global Survey. Motorsport Network in collaboration with Formula 1 and Nielsen Sports sponsored the survey.
At least 167,000 motorsport enthusiasts from 187 countries participated in the survey.
At 14.4%, Verstappen took F1’s most popular driver as while McLaren’s driver Norris came second. Hamilton was 1.9% behind the Red Bull Racing driver who is now the most popular driver in Formula 1.
Formula 1 Suprised
Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali told Motorsport he is surprised a little bit that Hamilton didn’t get the first position. He remains the most popular F1 driver in the UK beating Norris.
Domenicali admits that though he is surprised, he understands the majority of those who voted for Verstappen.
“But on the other hand, if you think about the demographic of the people that are more involved in these kinds of [votes], I think that you understand why Lando has a great audience, in that respect.
“It’s more connected to the fact that he has an approach with them that is fresh, in a way that is closer to the people that are following that. That is my personal view.”
McLaren took second-place courtesy of Norris’ votes by his fans across the world. He is happy that he inspires the young generation across social media.
The Formula 1 boss added the survey was an eye-opener on the growing interest in motorsports among young enthusiasts.
“I don’t want to give a bigger magnitude than what it is, but for sure it’s a sign that, as I always said, we don’t have a problem with the drivers for the future,” Domenicali said.
“We have an incredible group of young, very talented and very good drivers that is of value for Formula 1.”
The average age of voters was reduced from 36 to 32 to capture real data of young F1 fans. Additionally, Domenicali offers, Netflix’s Drive to Survive series impacted the vote recently compared to 2017.
“For sure, Drive to Survive had a big impact, mainly on the ones that were not really so avid fans of Formula 1,” Domenicali said.
“They saw different narratives with regards to that sport. For sure, it had a positive impact.”
Lewis Hamilton Mexico Grand Prix. Photo/ Planet F1
Hamilton Wins 100th Race
Hamilton was in September lost for words after winning his 100th race. The British Mercedes driver dives into the annals of history by becoming the first Formula 1 driver to hit 100 races.
Speaking of his victory, he said that he owes it to his team.
Today we won our 100th race! Words can’t describe how it feels to make history with this team of hardworking, driven and passionate human beings. They encourage me to push past the limits and today’s win is a result of our incredible teamwork. Thank you for continuing to believe in us — our shared dream is alive and strong. We must keep fighting, keep rising. We’ve got a championship to win,” he wrote.
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