Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton: “There are lots of positives to carry into the next battle“

2 Mins read

After what must have seemed like the whole world was against him at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is confident he can bounce back and perform at the level we are all accustomed to, at the 2016 Russian Grand Prix this weekend.

“There was plenty going through my head after China, as you’d expect. But, after all these years, experience has taught me to stay calm and keep pushing forwards when I get knocked back. I’ve been here before a few times now. A lot can happen over the next eighteen race weekends and I have the utmost confidence in this team. But adversity is part of the journey: it brings us closer, makes us stronger and I know that together we’ll bounce back, so I’m confident of better weekends to come.

“There are lots of positives to carry into the next battle. If nothing else, I know after these first few races that I can still overtake! I had a great start in China too, so hopefully I can continue that and use it to my advantage to build my races from a better base.

“It’s Russia up next – a race that I’ve won on both occasions so far and a track that seems to suit me pretty well, so let’s see what we can do there…”

Team-mate Nico Rosberg meanwhile is still flying high, after taking three consecutive victories so far this season. Going into the Russian Grand Prix this weekend, the German is hoping to build on that success further.

“It’s great to see that we still have the quickest car out there and, of course, it’s always the plan to win every race. But I would never have expected the first three weekends to go the way they have. I’ve made the most of my opportunities and I have a bit of an advantage in the points right now – but we are only three races down and it would just take one bad weekend for that gap to disappear.

“Lewis is still the benchmark for me as he is the current Champion, Ferrari haven’t shown what they can do yet and Red Bull also look like they’re getting stronger, so it’s going to be a good battle and I’m looking forward to that. I wouldn’t have it any other way. For now, I’m just taking things race by race, focusing on doing my own thing and getting the job done to the best of my ability. That approach has worked out well for me so far.

“Now, I can’t wait to get to Sochi. I was looking good all weekend last year until a technical problem put me out of the race and I had great fun fighting from the back the year before, so I know I’m competitive at this track. It holds great memories of celebrating the two Championship wins with the team too, so I’m excited to be heading back and seeing how we perform.”

Although they have made a solid start to the 2016 Formula One season so far, the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 team are staying realistic, knowing that there are still eighteen races left on the calendar. With the Scuderia Ferrari squad and now the Red Bull Racing team looking strong, the current World Champions know they cannot take anything for granted at this stage.

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