Liam’s a hot Rod
LEWIS ON PAIN BEHIND TITLE No.6
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LEWIS HAMILTON has opened up on his “hardest” title win yet.
After clinching his sixth drivers’ championship, the Brit was already being asked about matching Michael Schumacher’s benchmark of seven world titles.
But Hamilton chose instead to reflect on a season he described as the toughest he has faced in Formula One.
The celebration was in full swing in Austin after he had followed Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas home in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix to seal the title with two races to spare.
The party then moved on to New York but before leaving Texas, Hamilton’s mind had turned to a campaign marred by the death of Mercedes talisman Niki Lauda.
He said: “No way has it been the easiest. It’s been the hardest year for us as a team.
“We lost Niki, a crucial member of our team. I didn’t think that was going to hit me as hard as it did. It really was upsetting and I miss him dearly today and I didn’t realise how much I loved the guy.”
Lauda’s passing was not the only dark day to hit Hamilton hard this season.
The level of concern he showed in August as he watched the horrific crash that cost the life of Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert in Belgium was such that he had to bring an interview to an abrupt halt.
He added: “We lost a young kid in Spa. I saw it on the TV, I saw it happen.
“That again, when something like that happens, can put lots of doubts in your mind and make you think, ‘OK, jeez, is it time to stop or shall I keep going?’ because there’s lots of life afterwards.
“I still want to spend time with my family, I still want to have a family one day, all these different things, but I love doing what I do so much that I don’t think there’s a lot that can particularly stop me in that sense.
“And I am also struggling with lots of different things and battling certain demons and trying to make sure that I’m constantly growing as a person.
“There’s always the darker always trying to pull you down.
“I look in the mirror and I’m trying to lift myself up and say, ‘Yes, you can do it. Yes, you are great. Yes, you can be fit if you go and put that time in. Yes, you can win this race if you do the right steps and you continue to believe in yourself’.”
Following some hard-earned downtime expect that hard work to begin in earnest, and the question of Schumacher’s seven titles to be addressed. side that’s STRUGGLING Milton Keynes are banking on Liam Stewart, son of rock legend Rod, to send them shooting up the charts.
And skipper Russ Cowley, who helped persuade his former Coventry and Great Britain team-mate to resurrect his UK career after a year out through injury, is backing him to be a big hit.
Stewart, 25, superstar Rod’s son with his former wife Rachel Hunter, has proved his fitness after playing in New Zealand.
Now he is set to make his debut against Bracknell Bees on Saturday night.
The forward scored a dozen goals for Elite League Guildford before a concussion injury cut short his season last year.
And Cowley is convinced Stewart’s arrival in time to face fellow strugglers Bracknell will help them climb the table.
Cowley said: “Stewie’s a good player. He’s got good speed, a good shot and he has put up good numbers in the Elite League. He is a great signing for us.”
Lightning, who dropped down to the second tier National League in the summer after a change of ownership, are bottom of the table with only two wins out of 13.