Question: Let’s look back over the season - it’s been a year of highs and lows, but what has been your highlight?
Lewis Hamilton: I think there are a few moments that will stay with me from this year. The first was at Silverstone, where I arrived knowing that I wouldn’t be able to fight for a win, and where I was just overwhelmed by the amount of support from the people at the circuit. I would never have imagined it would have been such a positive and inspiring weekend for me - even if our results weren’t that great. I’d had such an amazing race at Silverstone in 2008, and it really meant a lot to me to see that people had kept the faith and were behind me even if I couldn’t score a win for them.
On the track, one of my biggest highlights was in Germany, when we tried the upgrade package for the first time. Before I’d even driven the car, you could see that it was a big step - we’d completely changed the front wing, the top body and the floor, and there was a lot of pressure for it to be right - and it looked good, the car looked fantastic. And it only took me a few laps to realise that the car was an incredible improvement. Finally, after months of struggling, I could finally get the car to do what I wanted. I could get it turned in properly, and get hard on the power and just rely on the grip to get me out of a corner. Coming out of the Nurburgring hairpin and heading uphill into the fast esses, I accidentally left my radio switched on, and the whole team could hear me yelling and screaming because the car felt so good! I felt a bit embarrassed afterwards, especially when (team principal) Martin Whitmarsh told me he’d played the recording back to the whole team! But I can see now that that was important for everyone’s morale.
The other highlight was winning in Hungary. I’d always said that winning a race this year was going to feel sweeter than anything else we’d achieved, just because it would be such a satisfying conclusion to all our hard work. And the Hungarian Grand Prix was just a dream come true - to be able to measure my pace over the others and to get the car home first was just unbelievable. Total satisfaction…
Question: What was your Favourite race?
Lewis Hamilton: Monza was good fun, but probably either Suzuka or Brazil. I raced my heart out at Suzuka, my battle with Jarno (Trulli) in the first stint was seriously hardcore - it was like doing 20 qualifying laps in a row. But Brazil was even crazier - the car was probably the best it has felt all year and I didn’t stop pushing from the first corner until the last corner. That was probably my best drive of the whole year.
Question: What was your Proudest moment?
Lewis Hamilton: Taking the team back to the top step of the podium in Hungary - and then having four weeks before the next race to hold onto it! Seriously, that was the greatest achievement of our season. I’m so proud of everyone who played a role in getting us back to the front. Believe me, we really deserved that result.
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