Question: Lewis, brilliant win but not without its nervy moments.
Lewis Hamilton: No. It was a great weekend. Very, very tough race for me. I think same for everyone but praying just for a race that went smoothly. But with the tricky conditions when it started to rain, losing temperature in the tyres and not really knowing how much you can push in each corner. I braked quite late and locked my wheel and went wide at turn eight and jeez, the Lord definitely had his hand over me there as I was able to get away with it. Then staid ahead of the guys here. The team did a remarkable job this weekend. We are constantly pushing and some places we are not as fast as these guys but it is great that when we are close we maximize, so very proud of the job they did this weekend and I am so happy to be up here.
Question: Talk us through the struggles. As the rain came down it really looked like you wanted to come in for a change of tyres a lap earlier than you were allowed to.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, it is a difficult call. The team are telling you there is rain coming and in the previous times it was just a light shower and it dries up very quickly. You didn’t know what to expect. Although there were very dark clouds above but it begun to rain and quite heavily and you are praying that you wish you could come in but it is too late once you get past the pit lane. Fortunately I got round and changed the tyres and had a fantastic pit stop. The best one I have had this year and I guess that’s what helped get us out there.
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Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton Wins Belgian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Belgian Grand Prix - Race Results
F1 Standings Ahead of Belgian Grand Prix
Question: Then just the one safety car to try and survive until the end of the race.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, I was hoping the safety car would stay out longer. But fortunately it did not rain anymore and the track got a little bit better. At the end it was just about nursing the car home and bringing it back in one piece. Just trying to keep a small gap between myself and Mark and try to bag those points. It is not many times you are in this position.
Question: Lewis, a victory that takes you back to the top of the championship which will give you a reason to smile and a victory that next year when we look at the record books will still be yours which I am sure will make you smile even more.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, I am so happy. I am so grateful to be in this position. When you have a weekend and a race like that as Mark said it can be a lottery, to come out on top even though you are faced with so many difficult situations and one of which I was very, very blessed and fortunate to get away with. I am just so grateful to be here and I am really happy. Absolutely ecstatic, so good, good.
Question: It makes up for 2008?
Lewis Hamilton: Absolutely.
Question: Lewis, yesterday we spoke a little bit about what it would mean for you to win here and now you have done it. Tell us.
Lewis Hamilton: I think you can probably see by my reaction just how happy I am. I love racing. It is in my blood. I missed it so much in the break and what the whole team works for is that win. We came here surprisingly to see that we were very competitive, if not a little bit faster than the others. To then try and put that into a win in these changeable conditions was very tough. It is one of those I can tick off now and say that I have won. I get to keep this one which is great. So very, very happy and the team did a great job. Sorry to hear what happened to Jenson (Button). It was very unfortunate for him and for us as a team. He was doing a fantastic job to get up to second and those points were very, very valuable. I am pretty sure it wasn’t his fault. I did happen to see it on the screen.
Question: There was the incident at the final corner on the first lap when you all went wide and off the circuit and I guess there were a few other moments as well.
Lewis Hamilton: Everyone behind me did the same thing. When you are out there in those tricky conditions, I had gone so far I couldn’t come back across. It was impossible. But everyone behind me did exactly the same thing. The biggest moment was later on in turn eight. I made it all the way out to the wall and just clipped it a little bit with the edge of my wing. Fortunately not the whole car but very fortunate to get away with that. It was so slippery out there. There is nothing you can do. Obviously you tip-toe around. I felt I was braking quite early, but the thing just did not want to stop and locked the wheel and I was gone.
Question: The tyre calls must have been very difficult. It is all very well being in the pits here but they don’t necessarily know how much rain is out there. How did that all work out? Were you on intermediates for the last stint as well?
Lewis Hamilton: I was on intermediates. Same as everyone right at the end. But it was very, very tricky. You have to stay out as long as you can and when you are in the lead you are the first one to arrive at whatever is ahead of you. You have really got to be very sharp and very much in control. But at the end we put the tyres on at the right time. Fortunately we kept our position through the pit stop. The team did a great job with the pit stop. That was the best pit-stop I think we have done, so rally hats off to them. Great, they deserve it. They work hard all the time. lt is great coming back after the break to have this result, so I am very, very pleased..
Question: Mark, now have 20 points more than his team-mate; Lewis you have 35 more than yours. Do you expect that in the remaining six or five rounds that your teams will concentrate more on you instead of your team-mate?
Lewis Hamilton: I don’t think so. I think Jenson was very unfortunate today. I get the same treatment as Jenson and vice versa and that enables us both to score maximum points and so I don’t feel there should be any preferential treatment. Obviously the team do the best they can possibly do, to the maximum for each of us. There’s no more they could do.
Question: Lewis, condition-wise, which was rougher, the last four laps in 2008 or the last ten laps today?
Lewis Hamilton: The last ten laps now I would say were definitely twice as hard as 2008. Obviously 2008 was incredibly tough but I felt more on the limit here, maybe because I’d been off and had a wide moment and the changeable conditions. The last four laps were obviously much easier than 2008 because in 2008 we were on slicks and that was incredible, but the lead up to those few laps was pretty intense.
Question: Lewis, a question about the F-duct in the wet. Do the wet conditions change things for the F-duct? Do you use it in different places because it has a different effect or you want more downforce here or everywhere? Is it a different technique in the wet?
Lewis Hamilton: No, there’s no different technique, you just use it less. It depends where you’re grip limited. Obviously I was using it through Eau Rouge in the dry and then in the wet it was impossible to use it through Eau Rouge, so you just use it a little bit less.
Question: Lewis, as you and Mark are the only two contenders to score points, do you think you are sitting beside your main rival for the title?
Lewis Hamilton: You’ve seen in the last few races how quickly things can change, so we will still have a long way to go, so there are still many points to be grabbed by any of us drivers who are fighting for the championship. Clearly for me, my closest rival in the championship is Mark in terms of points, but I still think the championship is open, but obviously we want to make sure that that’s not the case after another few races.
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