"I've learnt more from the failures"- Lewis Hamilton opens up about his loss to Max Verstappen at the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP

Lewis Hamilton opened up about his 2021 title loss to Max Verstappen in the controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi. The Briton said that he has learnt to not dwell on his failures, but to move on and “apply himself better” going forward. Speaking to Mirror UK, the seven-time F1 world champion said:

“I would say that actually I’ve learnt more from the failures. The success and everything is a beautiful thing, but you learn way, way more when you stumble and fall.”

He added:

“I used to dwell on things for such a long time, but now I’m able to move on and just apply myself better next time. Work harder, dig deeper, study more - whatever it may be.”

Lewis Hamilton lost his commanding lead at the Abu Dhabi GP on the very last lap of the race to Max Verstappen due to a late safety car intervention and narrowly lost out on his eighth world title.

Despite the controversial circumstances of his title loss, Hamilton took his defeat in stride and vowed to come back stronger and harder at the start of the 2022 season. Unfortunately for the Briton, Mercedes’ 2022 challenger has been uncompetitive from the get-go, leaving him unable to compete for the championship.

However, resurgent form in recent races has filled Hamilton with optimism about the team’s chances going forward. At the British GP last weekend, he came close to taking his first win of the season, until a late safety car invention ruined his chances. Lamenting his bad luck, Hamilton felt that “everything needs to align” for his team to win a race this season. He said:

“At Silverstone, there was definitely potential to win the race. With our current performance, we are not at the same level as the teams ahead of us – we needed everything to align.”

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Lewis Hamilton expresses confidence in Mercedes’ ability to win a race in 2022 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes is currently closer than it has ever been to winning a race this season and hopes that the team's continued hard work will deliver a victory soon.

Speaking to Spanish sports daily Diario AS ahead of the 2022 Austrian GP, the Briton said:

“With a bit more hard work, hopefully we can get closer to having a chance of winning. I truly believe we can get a race win this year. There was a long way back.”

He further said:

“Earlier this year, I definitely wasn’t sure we would ever get a win in this car, but that was not the way we like to think. It felt there’s a long way to catch everyone up, knowing the progress everyone makes.”

Mercedes has been in better shape performance-wise in recent races compared to earlier this year, having finally fixed some of the biggest issues with the W13. The German team is hoping to make further progress throughout the season in its bid to return to the front of the grid.