INTERVIEW: Hamilton focused in Abu Dhabi

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  • Eyes on the prize: Lewis Hamilton.

    He has triumphed in two of the six editions of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, including last year’s, and is looking to cap off his incredible World Championship-winning season with success at Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.

    Lewis Hamilton’s accomplishments so far in F1 – three world titles, 43 race wins and 86 podiums – have been admittedly beyond his wildest dreams and the Mercedes man is now setting for himself higher targets that would keep him going.

    Speaking at the launch of the Mercedes AMG A45 4MATIC Champion Edition on Abu Dhabi’s Zaya Nurai Island, the 30-year-old Brit shared his thoughts on a spectacular 2015, emulating his idol Ayrton Senna and his special connection with the UAE.

    You’ve already won the championship, do you still think you have a challenging race ahead?

    There’s a lot of talk at the moment and people are like, ‘since you’ve won the championship you haven’t been as motivated’ and that’s not the case. Since I was a kid, it doesn’t matter if it’s racing, I’m super competitive in everything. And so even though I won the championship I arrive at the next race and I want to win more than ever.

    Especially that we had Mexico as the first race so I wanted to win the first Mexican Grand Prix in 22 years or whatever it was. And Brazil, the last one, I have not won there ever, so I’m dying to win that race. And coming here, I want to set the record straight. Not that I really need to set the record straight, but still I’m going to be pushing.

    The thing is we’ve changed the car. From Singapore, we had a really bad race, and everyone was like ‘why are you so far off?’ We didn’t really understand it. The engineers did all this analysing and came up with lots of different scenarios on why it could have been the way it was and then made some changes.

    I know they fully believe in it but the car has been different since then and I haven’t really enjoyed it as much. But I still got three of the last five (grands prix).

    Special moment: Claiming the 2014 title in UAE.

    How do you feel after winning a third World Championship?

    As I started out all those years ago, I started watching with my dad on the weekends and I wanted to be Ayrton Senna, the guy won three world championships. And I thought ‘if I get to Formula One it would be great if I could do something similar’.

    To think that today I’ve reached him in terms of wins, and now have the same world championships, same number of podiums, still chasing him in poles, I think he has 65 poles and I’m trying to get my 50th. It’s just a dream.

    I’m in discovery mode now. I didn’t think I’d get to here and I still have a long period of time left, probably seven years left in F1 hopefully, so what’s next, what’s my next target? That’s what I’m trying to figure out.

    So Senna is why you got into racing?

    He’s the guy I wanted to be. But my dad was my mentor, he’s the guy who made it possible for me to be here today. He sacrificed everything. He had four jobs at one stage just to keep me go-karting.

    Because we were racing against kids who had lots of money, who had big motor-homes and we had less but we did more with it. And I carry that hunger from then until today.

    This Abu Dhabi race has a particularly special meaning to you this time around, right?

    It’s really special because my number is 44 and the UAE is celebrating its 44th National Day. I actually have got the logo (44th UAE National Day) on my hat, my helmet and on my gloves. So while I come from the UK, I’m kind of representing Abu Dhabi and the UAE this weekend so I’m really excited about it.

    We (at Mercedes) also wear similar colours (to the UAE flag) so that works too.

    We should get you a kandora…

    Honestly, today I was thinking of where I can get one because I would have worn it to the track.

    What is your most memorable race and which circuit is your favourite?

    Every race has always felt different surprisingly and every win feels different. I’m going for my 44th win as well this weekend, which is surprising.

    This year my favourite win was Austin, Texas when I won the championship. Wins generally feel better for me – starting first and finishing first is always a good thing, but when you start further behind, because when I started racing we had no money and the go-kart we had was really terrible. So we’d always start last and I had to work my way up. So I became a good overtaker and that’s what I enjoy doing most. And that’s till today sometimes I hope I’m a little bit further behind so I get to race.

    The problem is in F1 it’s not easy to overtake because of aerodynamics, so some races you do not want to be in a position where you have to overtake because you’re going to get stuck.

    Have you ever got a chance to visit the sights here?

    Generally, in all countries we go to, you arrive and you’re working. So I arrived yesterday morning, went from the airport straight to work and we didn’t finish until midnight. But of course I’ve been out in the water, paddleboarding and jet-skiing when I’m here.

    I’ve spent Christmas in Dubai in 2006… it’s a beautiful place. The weather is always great, the people have been so amazing every time I’ve come, the food has been good. It really is one of my favourite places, and hence the reason why I have done this collaboration with the UAE (for National Day).

    My mum is coming out this weekend, my family always come, tons and tons of guests come to this one because the track itself, it is the best track in terms of the whole package – the hospitality, the view, the lighting, the twilight race look, it looks the best. As a driver, everyone loves Monaco for example but this provides a great race as well, the track is anti-clockwise but it’s got really great combination of corners.

    What’s the physical effect of the sport on you and what do you do to be in the right shape for it?

    The last race I lost just under four kilos and it took me three days to recover. It was a killer, killer race. This one in Abu Dhabi is a hard one because of the temperature. You can’t get big and bulky. The lighter I can be, the more they can put on the car, another component or something else.

    There was one race last year were I was too heavy and over the whole race I lost three seconds. I won the race but my team-mate was at my back side, because he was lighter. I had too many pancakes. No, so I’m constantly watching my diet, my trainer is on my case all the time.

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