IN CONVERSATION WITH
World champion Lewis Hamilton
In a recent Mercedes in-house interview from lockdown, the reigning world champion spoke about the shock he’s felt from not racing, why he’s decided against taking sabbaticals from Formula 1 in the past, and why the thought of driving again in front of vacant stands gives him an ‘empty feeling’
People have talked about the ‘lockdown ten’ or the ‘quarantine ten’ – putting weight on while stuck at home, but it doesn’t look like you’re suffering…
Definitely not. I think my weight’s probably around the same. Having this [period] gives you more time to focus on areas of weakness – tedious things like calf muscles, which is not exciting, glute exercises, which, again, quite boring. But all really important because over time your body forms into a shape and into a pattern. There’s strengths and weaknesses on all our bodies, and when you go to the gym often you work the big muscles but not necessarily the small ones in between. I’m really trying to get in deep to refine my body; just trying to find the next level. How can I get fitter than I was even at the start of the season?
The way you were mentally at the start of the season, you seemed like a boxer who made weight and was ready to fight – it must be so frustrating that you didn’t get a chance to show the work you put in over the winter, in Melbourne. It really was a shock to the system. It was very surreal – you weren’t quite sure whether it was going to happen. And it was tough, because this is the first time in my 14th season. Every year I know how to get straight into the zone, know what preparation I need, know how to be there and ready for that first race, so that we start off better than ever. Each year you’re refining a little bit to make sure you start on the right foot, so it was definitely a difficult few days, and having something that you love so much taken away from you… I miss driving. But you have to look at the positives: if you look around the world, the skies are clear, people are probably appreciating this time, families more, relationships more. I really hope we will grow from this experience.
Your time is in so much demand usually, so how you are feeling about the fact that suddenly the phone’s quieter that it might be normally?
Well I’m generally a very quiet person, so I do enjoy the time. I’m [also] a workaholic so just moving, one thing to the next thing to the next, squeezing training in, making sure you’re trying to find the right balance – man I love that challenge. It’s been nice not to be bothered too much, but I’m missing my team. I miss seeing my friends. Actually, there have been times in my life, probably in the past five years or so, that I thought to myself it’d be good for my body and my mind to take a rest, but you can’t step away. I don’t think that for an athlete in their prime that is ever a good thing, step away for a year and then come back. Technology moves so fast, at such a rate, you need to stay on top of this car and the development. Taking a sabbatical is just not on the cards. But we’ve been handed almost a part-sabbatical, which I’m enjoying. I feel fresher and healthier than I’ve ever been.
What is it that you’ve been doing outside of the training work?
I’ve always wanted to learn a language. French at school is the only thing I aced, so I’ve been doing this online course. I have a six-week course and I’m supposed to do half an hour a day, but when I do things I just do it to the extreme, so I sit down and do a week in two hours; basically one week a day. I was already at week four by the fourth day and I was so stressed! I wasn’t enjoying it so I stopped for a week or so I’m trying to get back into it. The training, a bit of gaming – I played Call of Duty with Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc. I’m not really interested in simulated racing. But I play Gran Turismo – Sony sent me a whole set up. I grew up playing Gran Turismo. I’ve been racing myself trying to beat my own laps – and it’s been frustrating as hell because my laps are pretty decent, I think!
“WE GET MESSAGES FROM PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE STRUGGLING DURING THIS PERIOD, AND IT JUST SHOWS HOW SIGNIFICANT SPORT IS IN PEOPLE’S LIVES”
We will hopefully be racing, fingers crossed, sooner rather than later, but it sounds like in Europe anyway it’ll be behind closed doors and without fans…
It gave me a really empty feeling because the fans are really what make a race. That’s why you have places like Silverstone, Monza. It’s going to be very empty. We get messages from people around the world who are struggling during this period, and it just shows how significant sport is in people’s lives. It brings us all together; it’s so exciting and captivating. I don’t know how exciting it’s gonna be for people watching on TV, but it’s going to be better than nothing… For us it’s going to be like a test day – probably even worse than a test day. You’re gonna have nobody in the crowd. But racing is racing, so I’m excited to get back in.