20/07/2017
NEWS STORY
Days after hinting at retirement, Lewis Hamilton claims he has six more years of racing in him.
In an interview with Serena Williams (!?!) for Interview magazine, the Briton talks of his life, his faith, his self-belief, his fear of spiders, his music and much more.
The comment about his aim to continue racing come when he asked about his future and whether he is looking at moving into music or fashion or any of the other field he has shown interest in in recent years.
"Another one of your hobbies is fashion," says Williams. "You're a staple at all these fashion shows, and you're always posting these fashion pictures.
"When I look at pictures from when I was younger, I think, 'Holy crap, what the hell was I wearing?'," admits Hamilton. "I'm sure you have the same thing.
"I've made it a real mission to fully understand what fashion is all about," he continues. "I love going to these shows because I love seeing creativity. So when I get to meet these fashion designers, I'm kind of like, 'Where did you get the idea to make this? What were you thinking?' Some of that stuff is so crazy and loud.
"I've got five, six years left of my career in racing, and after that I want to avoid becoming a commentator or a manager," he adds.
Asked if he feels recognized as a great athlete, he replies: "I'm constantly watching my weight for my job, and I've trained so hard this year to be ready for this season-more rigorously than ever.
"But people who tune in to Formula One have no comprehension of what we have to do to be fit," he claims. "It's so physical. This year, the car is way faster than when you came to the race. And the physicality has gone up quite a lot, at least 20 to 30 percent. People don't see that. They don't see us as athletes. They just see us driving."
Asked if he now feels he is expected to win every time, he admits: "I feel like people are expecting me to fail, therefore, I expect myself to win. Just like you, everyone knows how good you are, and they're just waiting for you to fall."
Asked what part winning plays in his life, the Briton admits: "It used to be the be-all and end-all.
"You know how it is," he continues, "you've trained, you've made the mistakes before, you know how not to do it, and then you do it again, and you fail in such a spectacular way.
"The fall feels like it's never-ending. It used to take me days to recover, literally. One time I didn't leave my hotel room for four days, I was so stuck in my head. But now, with maturity and age, I've realized that winning isn't everything. It's very much about the journey, particularly in my sport. There are so many people on my team, and I've got to be conscious of them. So while winning is definitely the ultimate goal, the lessons learned when I don't win only strengthen me.
"I hate losing," he adds. "It doesn't matter if it's racing or playing Ping-Pong, I hate it. 'You're either first or you're last'."
Asked if he has any fears, he says: "In my sport, I don't. I don't know what it is about me. When I was younger, my dad used to go, 'Is he really mine? Because this kid's crazy. He's not scared of doing anything that comes in conjunction with adrenaline'.
"I don't know if you've ever been skiing, but if you go to the slope you'll see all these kids fearlessly zooming by. It's only when we get older that fear creeps in. But for me, it just never has. And when it comes to racing, it's always about who is willing to go further, who is willing to take that extra step. I'm willing to take any amount of pain to win. I'm hungry like you.
"There are fears I have outside of racing, though," he admits, "like spiders... When I'm in Australia, I check under the toilet seat. And more than anything, I fear not being as great as I know I can be."