Lewis Hamilton’s recipe for revival is revealed. He boasts that he is working harder than any other driver on the grid.
That was the seven-time world champion’s verdict in Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, though nobody can yet be sure whether the toil will result in him quite recapturing the lightning fork of old.
Four times he has won at this grand old circuit – and once at Fuji, where he conjured the first great wet-weather drive of his career.
His Pacific record might add to his brightening mood after the opening races in Melbourne and Shanghai, where he finished fourth and third, partly expunging the worst of last year’s horrors from his psyche.
Another restorative is that the Ferrari man arrived here via a visit to Tokyo with his new girlfriend Kim Kardashian. ‘Lewis is clearly in a much happier place in life and that is probably because he is loved up,’ observed his former Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
It remains to be seen if Kardashian will be at Sunday’s race. Meanwhile, in another branch of reality, Hamilton opened up on the honed work ethic sustaining his bid for an eighth world title.
Lewis Hamilton has boasted he is working harder than any other driver on the grid, with the Ferrari driver hoping his revival continues as he eyes an eighth world title
Former Mercedes team-mate George Russell claimed Hamilton is happier now he is ‘loved up’ – after visiting Tokyo with rumoured girlfriend Kim Kardashian (Pictured together in 2021)
Hamilton secured his first podium for Ferrari at the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this month
He said of his relative improvement in form: ‘I don’t find it a relief. It is just a change of attitude and not letting all the “BS” that comes out of people’s mouths get in the way of knowing who I am and what I am able to do.
‘Hopefully you saw that in the last two races, and particularly the last one (where he raced wheel-to-wheel with Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc).
‘I will continue to try to show this through the year.
‘I have not lost what I have had regardless of what people write. I will continue to train harder than ever.
‘I ran 100km in Tokyo between races, and I know none of the drivers I am racing against have trained as hard as I am and giving it what I am – especially at my age, too.
‘I love that I still have the drive to push myself. I was at the hotel and several drivers walked in and I had finished my run. I knew they were just getting up. The commitment is there more than ever. I will dedicate absolutely everything I have to this challenge and these cars.’
Reminded of his stellar record in Japan, where only Michael Schumacher has won more often in the country, he dismissed the fact. He is not a great hoarder of his past races, unable to recall details, however much he relishes his accumulation of success across 20 seasons.
‘I don’t rely on what I did before to approach things now,’ he added. ‘I am coming here feeling like it is the first time. It is a new car and each corner is slightly different.
‘I never said I lost confidence last year. It is just a natural part of a process as an athlete that you go through seasons like that and some of the most trying times. The most important thing is getting back up and that is what I have done this year. No-one has done it for me.
‘I did it for myself. I kept pushing in the face of adversity. I am ultimately proud to get to this point.’
