‘Still makes me sick’ – Lewis Hamilton ‘tortured’ after losing title at Chinese Grand Prix
With seven world titles in his pocket, Lewis Hamilton may still have flashbacks when he enters the pitlane in China. The Ferrari driver is the winningest in the history of the Shanghai International Circuit, with six victories out of a possible 14. There was an extraordinary buzz in China as Hamilton headed in just needing to finish third for his first titleGetty But the race ended in disasterGetty He enters his second Grand Prix for the iconic F1 team lining up fifth on the grid after winning the sprint race on Saturday. However, his first attempt at a world title in China couldn’t have gone much worse. In 2007 Hamilton was a 22-year-old F1 rookie and looked set to be the first-ever to win the championship in their debut campaign. The Stevenage-born star had an unexpected 12-point championship lead (the equivalent to 30 points in the current scoring system), with teammate Fernando Alonso behind and Kimi Raikkonen a further five points back. Britain was eagerly anticipating history, and woke up early on October 7 in the hope of seeing Hamilton convert his pole position and put the title beyond the duo, with even third-place clinching the honour. The race got underway cleanly and with testing conditions in the rain, the pack spread out and all was going to plan. Yet on lap 26, everyone started realising the plan wasn’t a very good one. With Hamilton’s intermediate tyres wearing far faster than the Ferraris, and Raikkonen caught up at a rate of knots, overtaking him on lap 31. There was still no need to panic as second would have clinched the title. But when the Brit was finally called into pit in response, he didn’t realise how wet the entrance still was, ran wide and beached himself in the gravel. /Hamilton couldn’t get his McLaren straight and it all went very wrongF1 Hamilton was beached and hat to give upF1 His tyres were worn to the canvas with no grip leftGetty Hamilton was forced to admit defeat in ShanghaiGetty Spinning his wheels in vain to try and get back on the tarmac, Hamilton eventually succumbed, Raikkonen won, and it was game on for the finale in Brazil. There, the Finn clinched Ferrari’s last drivers’ title with victory from seventh-placed Hamilton, who was left to regret the biggest error of his career. “It still makes me sick to this day,” he said almost 15 years later, before reflecting on what it taught him. “I think a lot of things are meant to happen, that was such a character-building moment for me. “When I was younger, I was very, very hard on myself. Way too hard on myself when I failed. I would almost punish myself. “It was a very, very unproductive thing but I’d done it for so many years it was really hard to get out of that headspace. Hamilton tried to put on a brave face after his error, but his title charge was unravellingGetty “Over the years I’ve learned to find the joy. The most important thing is to enjoy what you do. To torture yourself ends up being negative.” Hamilton took those lessons with him to claim his first title the following year before adding six more at Mercedes for a joint-record seven. However, the now 40-year-old may never go clear of Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time list, with China 2007 perhaps the missing piece.
With seven world titles in his pocket, Lewis Hamilton may still have flashbacks when he enters the pitlane in China.
The Ferrari driver is the winningest in the history of the Shanghai International Circuit, with six victories out of a possible 14.
He enters his second Grand Prix for the iconic F1 team lining up fifth on the grid after winning the sprint race on Saturday.
However, his first attempt at a world title in China couldn’t have gone much worse.
In 2007 Hamilton was a 22-year-old F1 rookie and looked set to be the first-ever to win the championship in their debut campaign.
The Stevenage-born star had an unexpected 12-point championship lead (the equivalent to 30 points in the current scoring system), with teammate Fernando Alonso behind and Kimi Raikkonen a further five points back.
Britain was eagerly anticipating history, and woke up early on October 7 in the hope of seeing Hamilton convert his pole position and put the title beyond the duo, with even third-place clinching the honour.
The race got underway cleanly and with testing conditions in the rain, the pack spread out and all was going to plan.
Yet on lap 26, everyone started realising the plan wasn’t a very good one.
With Hamilton’s intermediate tyres wearing far faster than the Ferraris, and Raikkonen caught up at a rate of knots, overtaking him on lap 31.
There was still no need to panic as second would have clinched the title.
But when the Brit was finally called into pit in response, he didn’t realise how wet the entrance still was, ran wide and beached himself in the gravel.
Spinning his wheels in vain to try and get back on the tarmac, Hamilton eventually succumbed, Raikkonen won, and it was game on for the finale in Brazil.
There, the Finn clinched Ferrari’s last drivers’ title with victory from seventh-placed Hamilton, who was left to regret the biggest error of his career.
“It still makes me sick to this day,” he said almost 15 years later, before reflecting on what it taught him.
“I think a lot of things are meant to happen, that was such a character-building moment for me.
“When I was younger, I was very, very hard on myself. Way too hard on myself when I failed. I would almost punish myself.
“It was a very, very unproductive thing but I’d done it for so many years it was really hard to get out of that headspace.
“Over the years I’ve learned to find the joy. The most important thing is to enjoy what you do. To torture yourself ends up being negative.”
Hamilton took those lessons with him to claim his first title the following year before adding six more at Mercedes for a joint-record seven.
However, the now 40-year-old may never go clear of Michael Schumacher at the top of the all-time list, with China 2007 perhaps the missing piece.
