Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton says the reason for the wild and at the same time emotional celebrations following the Formula 1 Brazil GP win was down to them sealing both the titles with a race to spare.
Even though Hamilton sealed his fifth title in the Mexico GP, the British driver’s celebrations after that race wasn’t the same as he did after winning the Brazil GP – which included Mercedes even breaking the parc ferme shield.
It was a race which Hamilton nearly lost with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen showing his intent, only for the Dutchman to loose due to lack of judgement from Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon with nearly 20 laps to go.
In fact, Hamilton also broke his own record of winning a grand prix after becoming a champion for the first time in five championship victories – naturally it added to the celebrations for him and the whole team.
“I think it was probably an explosion of the last race in Mexico winning the World Championship, I didn’t really feel the celebration there because I knew that we still had another championship to win,” said Hamilton to the media.
“I really needed to remain focused for the team and I really came here, to build up to here, just really focused on making sure that I could deliver for them. Naturally the will to want to win is so high for everyone and the stakes are high.
“Ultimately, you could make mistakes and all these different things but we didn’t or I didn’t on the track, for example, so to come in and see my guys who I’ve come along this great journey with and we’ve had a lot of success.
“But we’ve still remained fierce and competitive and I think our relationship is better than it’s ever been so just that bond, it was just a great great moment, plus it was a really hard race.
“I was constantly, like, talking to the car: ‘come on, keep going, keep going’ because we had this engine problem and I knew I could see Max just in my mirrors so I was doing qualifying laps every lap to keep him behind, which is how racing should be really anyway.
“Unfortunately that’s not the case a lot of the time this year. We’ve just won the World Championship for the fifth time so that’s real history in the making for the team and if I was to stop today, for example, Mercedes would always remember this day and that I was a part of it, and that’s cool.”
Mercedes’ boss Toto Wolff said the same after clinching fifth consecutive championship for the German manufacturer. “Lewis sounded very emotional because this Constructors’ Championship meant so much to him,” he said.
“When I had a conversation with him on the Sunday night after Mexico, neither of us felt happy. Here’s a man who has just won his fifth Drivers’ Championship and yet isn’t satisfied because, without wanting to sound lacking in humility, our objective is to win both championships, also for the team.
“That’s why, understanding the race situation, he was emotional; he wanted to finish this on a high and win the Constructors’ Championship in Brazil.”