INTERVIEW: Lewis Hamilton has unfinished business

As Lewis Hamilton is finishing his final answer of this interview, his words are particularly well-timed.

“I'll always be that thorn that hopefully ignites some interesting conversations…” he concludes, speaking about trying to push Formula 1 to be a better, more inclusive sport.

But I’ve got to admit, to my shame, I’ve tuned out a little. That’s because over his shoulder, Fernando Alonso has just climbed to the top level of the Mercedes motorhome and taken a seat behind Hamilton, waiting for him to be free.

Interesting conversations, you say?

It’s the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, and just a few days after Alonso’s radio outburst towards Hamilton after the pair collided at Spa. The Spaniard has come for the signed cap that Hamilton jokingly posted on social media in the intervening period, although there’s actually no such thing prepared…

As Hamilton turns round to see Alonso waiting, it strikes me how remarkable it is that these two giants of the sport are still making headlines 15 years after their explosive year together at McLaren. And for Hamilton, he makes them in so many different ways.

For all of his success on the track, it’s off it that Hamilton has been a driving force, as he pushes for greater diversity and more equal opportunities, and regularly uses his platform to champion human rights. Another driver who has been a constant rival through his F1 career to date – Sebastian Vettel – who has joined him in recent times, but Hamilton sees the younger drivers on the grid as inspirational too.

“With Seb for example, we’ve had some great races in the past and I'm so proud of him, of how he's gone through his journey and how he's opened up and how he's been outspoken … and continues to be,” Hamilton says. “I have no doubt whatever he plans to do in the future, he will continue to do so.

“To have the respect between two people who have had tough battles… It's hard to be friends when you're having a head-to-head battle and one of you is and one of you isn’t winning. The psychological warfare you go through, it’s tough.

“But to be able to come out from that and be such good friends – and I think it will continue to grow and (we'll) be even better friends in future – I’m really grateful for.

Hamilton takes pride in his fierce on-track rivalry with Sebastian Vettel having evolved into a strong off-track friendship. Charles Coates/Motorsport Images

“With the younger guys, there's so much talent here and there's more coming through. I remember when I came in and thinking I could beat everybody... I know what it’s like, because I’ve been there.

“I’m really just trying to work on those relationships bit by bit and be supportive of them because, as I said, I've been there. I know how tough it is at some of these teams. When you're in your early 20s, you don't know what you can and can't say or how best to navigate (things). All you have is just raw strength, talent and ability.

“And I'm super-excited to start to see Lando (Norris) and Charles (Leclerc), these guys really excel and move forward. There’s some really good guys here.”

It’s not just in F1 circles that Hamilton is attempting to have an influence though, now branching out into team ownership in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and having been linked with investments in the Chelsea and Manchester United soccer clubs.

“Oh, that’s amazing. To be able to just switch off and focus on other things, but also just being around people that you've grown to admire, and the people I'm just learning from like Mellody [Hobson] and George [Lucas]," he says.

“Every time I'm around them I'm just waiting for George to say something because he's literally Yoda’s dad! He comes out with so much incredible wisdom, and the same with Mellody. She's just a force of nature, but she's experienced a huge amount and she's achieved so much, and she will continue to achieve so much more. And the fact that she wanted to do the Broncos together (with me) was such a privilege. I'm really excited about the things we're going to do, we’re going to do more in future, hopefully.

"Then people like Tom [Brady]; I've been to the Super Bowl and seen him come from, like, his head in his hands as they’re losing, and then pulling it back with incredible mental strength.

“Also, he's an older athlete and he's killing it right now – I’m like, ‘I want whatever you're having!’. So there’s lots to learn from everybody.

“The same with Serena (Williams), (Roger) Federer, even Lebron (James) - there’s loads of incredible athletes out there doing great things. And to be able to be a part of that peer set – I always hoped one day we’d be able to relate to each other, so it's very surreal to sit with Tom and us to talk to each other on a similar wavelength. It's very, very, very surreal, very cool."

Of course, there’s a theme connecting some of the names Hamilton mentions. Williams and Federer are both all-time greats who have both recently retired from tennis, while Vettel’s time in F1 is also coming to an end.

In some cases their trademark dominance has faded, and age has started to catch up with others. Adjusting his mindset after having been used to being at the top of his profession for so long is a challenge Hamilton says he is facing at the moment: “with great difficulty."

“I think it's the same for everyone," he continues. "I take a lot of inspiration from other athletes like watching Serena, seeing everything she's gone through and in conversations, just the way she's pulled herself back up and the great performances... she is just such a warrior and she's my inspiration right now.

“So it's really just about taking time to sit back, reflect, figure out what you can do better. As athletes, we are super-determined, we don't like to lose, we don't like to fail. Failure is not an option, but sometimes you do, and that's part of the process. It's how you then don't beat yourself up or beat yourself down, it's how you take it on, put it on your back and use it as experience to power forward.

“And it's not easy. It could take you one day, it could take you five minutes, it could take you multiple days. These past few days (since his error at Spa) have not been easy and I don't take lightly mistakes that I make. And some people will be like, ‘well, don't be so hard on yourself,’ but that's how I've got to be the driver I am today.

“And there's so many implications of a mistake. For example, the one I made. The team, the damage, the points for the team, the morale. So I go back into the factory and I'm like, ‘I'm so sorry’. But we win and we lose as a team and we pull back together and that's the part I really do love. I’m not alone in the emotional roller coaster ride.

“I feel bad for my friends that came to (Belgium) and sat there ready to go, even if they're one of a couple in a big orange field of Max (Verstappen) fans. I'm so proud of them for the bravery they have, especially with what's been going on this year. It's not easy to stand in a crowd of the opponent’s fans. But they have been amazing, and so I know I've got to get back up for them as well. So that's what I'm trying to do.”

Ah yes. Verstappen. Fights with Alonso morphed into ones with Vettel but it had been a long time since Hamilton had experienced anything as intense as the battle with the Dutchman last season. And after such an unsavory ending, there’s been no opportunity to reply, as Red Bull has gone on to dominate this season and Mercedes struggles.

But it’s not something that the seven-time world champion finds painful, because it’s an aspect of F1 that is out of his hands.

“I think that comes with the lesson that you have to focus on what you can control. And whilst we do worry about things we can't control, you have to try to learn not to," he says.

“I do watch (other) sports and I wish that it was just the pure ability that I have that makes all the difference. But there's so many people's ability coming together – the communication, the amount of work, the processes, the direction you will go. It's like we're all rowing the boat and whilst we've got Toto (Wolff) above as the steering mechanism, we as drivers are also the part of the rod that’s steering it in the right direction.

Hamilton is treating Mercedes' frustrating 2022 campaign as a lesson in how not to get derailed by things he can't control. Jiri Krenek/Mercedes F1

“So it's definitely tough. But I don't like the word 'tough' because I've just been in Africa and I've seen kids that have nothing, so nothing is ever really that tough. It's something we say in our minds, right? But that should never be an excuse, it takes work and I wouldn't really want it any other way.

“To be honest, if every day was easy and you're just getting through it, it just wouldn’t be a challenge. I love the challenge of working with everybody and challenging the people and them challenging me. All acknowledging this year that we haven’t done a great job, but it doesn't mean we can't do a great job in the future. We have done it in the past.

“Does it hurt? I wouldn't say it hurts. We all know what it could be. We would love to be in that battle fighting, and I wish that all the cars were a lot closer and we were all having a much better battle closer to the front. I wish there was only tenths between us all, you know? But that's not the way our sport is.

“So I don't worry about that, and, again, it's not something I can control at the moment. So I just focus on what I can and that is trying to do a better job with what we have got and steering it. My worry, what is keeping me up at night is: what have I left out? Who do I need to speak to at the track? How can I support Bono (race engineer Pete Bonington)? How can I support Marcus (Dudley, performance engineer) and Shov (trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin)?

“In the aero department, how can I support them to make better choices for the next car? When I damage the car, I take money away from the budget and I'm like, ‘Oh, God! Don’t do that!’ And so that's really what I've been focusing on and I'm hoping when we come back in February next year, the car touches the ground and it does what we hope it does.”

For so many people, there’s an alternate universe where Hamilton is an eight-time world champion, and wasn’t robbed by the incorrect handling of the Safety Car period in Abu Dhabi. But that could also have moved him closer to retirement, as the 37-year-old actually sees the difficulties he’s faced – certainly with this year’s car – as a motivating factor that will keep him racing in F1 even longer to try and get back to the top.

“Definitely because it’s going to take longer than one year. I think if we had just won last year and then we would win this year, definitely life would be in a different place and you'd be on a different course.

“I love that it's gone through a phase even harder and we've got to pull through that thick slog and get to the point where we are a little bit lighter and we're floating a little bit more. So yeah, I would say that it's encouraged me to stay longer.

“Plus I'm feeling fit, I'm finding ways of feeling better physically. The mental challenge is a consistent thing and that will always be the case because that's how it is for us athletes, because we're on the edge. But right now, where I am in life, I'm really grateful for the opportunity I have here. I like to think I still deserve a place here, and there is lots of work to do.”

Whether it’s racing on track or trying to push the sport forward off it, Hamilton’s drive remains the same. And that’s why we’re likely to get to watch him for a number of years yet.