23/07/2018
NEWS STORY
Though the term is regularly over-used, it's fair to say that the last few weeks have been a roller-coaster for Lewis Hamilton and his team.
What with the double technical DNF in Austria, then being beaten on home soil by Vettel and Ferrari, there was Saturday's hydraulics failure which lead to some - including former teammate Nico Rosberg - expressing concern at the Briton's body language.
However, the events on Sunday afternoon, appeared to put an end to all that, in addition to taking an emphatic win, having started from the seventh row, Hamilton saw (main) title rival crash out in front of his adoring fans (and quite a few jeering Verstappen fans), thereby seeing the Briton re-take the lead in the championship.
On the cool down lap at the end of the race, engineer Pete Bonnington called out: “Miracles do happen, mate", as the Briton responded "love conquers all".
Admitting that he had said a long prayer before the race - though omitting to reveal whether this covered running alongside the safety car and subsequently making a late, late decision not to pit that only cost him a reprimand - Hamilton ranks the Hockenheim win among his finest, claiming that it has washed away much of the negativity.
"It's too early in the season to ever really feel like it's slipping away," he subsequently told reporters, "but of course it never feels good when you face adversity. But, the longer you endure it, the stronger you grow.
"I definitely felt at one point, there was... Jesus, it's a steep hill for us, but it's OK," he continued. "Y'know, just keep believing, positive things are going to come ahead. Just keep fighting, just give it everything you've got because at some stage things will come good.
"Today is one of the most unbelievable days for me because... I prayed as I always do before the race and my prayers were really answered.
"It freaks me out a little bit more than normal," he admitted. "And then to see the kind of biblical storm afterwards...
"There was a lot of negativity before the race," he said. "Y'know, I think when you come to England, going around I don't remember any of the fans booing. We've got quite a good group of fans in England. And when I came here, there was a lot of booing. The weird thing is that I was really happy about it. It was unusual. It's weird that I'm still happy. It was because I kept seeing individually, a couple of different British flags in amongst a hundred or a thousand... a sea of red and then you've got a British flag in there. Then you have people from Mexico, people from England, you have people I think from Nigeria or somewhere in Africa with Hamilton shirts on - the name Hamilton on, standing in amongst the red. And it was just so positive for me.
"That's why I said at the end, that love conquers all. And I really feel that the rains come down and just washed away any negativity. It's a glorious day. It couldn't have been a better day for me and one that I will always remember."
Asked, in the wake of his comments referring to the manner in which Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari celebrated their victory at Silverstone, and whether such actions gave him further motivation, he replied: "Honestly, I don't need to search for a boost or energy from other people's business. I just focus on mine. I truly believe that...
"I'm just focussed on trying to be the best I can be in myself. Because the best me... if I'm my best and my higher self, I feel like I'm able to drive like I was able to today, regardless of all the people, who else is around doing whatever they are doing.
"So, I did say when I came here that you can see things and they can often be maybe a sign of weakness. As I said, if we just kept our heads down, we knew this weekend Ferrari were going to be quick - and they're ridiculously quick on the straights.
"I think Valtteri did a fantastic lap yesterday, really great lap when I watched it - but he was just losing down the straights which there's nothing you can do about.
"But, yeah, we just... I'm just really proud of my guys as well, not getting phased by this fight that we're having. They could easily jump to conclusions and say, oh well, they're doing this or they're doing that, instead of, you know what? All we can do is control our own destiny. All we can do is work on our starts, try and improve, make sure we do a better job understanding the car, doing a better job, pushing for better aero performance, all these different things. Massively proud of them."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Hockenheim, here.