Hamilton: ‘It’s the car’ comments not nice to hear

Lewis Hamilton admits criticism that it is the car and not him isn’t “nice to hear” but he acknowledges his 91 wins were all team efforts.

Hamilton wrote his name into Formula 1’s record books on Sunday when he matched Michael Schumacher’s record for the most grand prix wins ever.

The Brit and the German are both sitting on 91 race wins with Hamilton expected to break the record for this season is over.

Added to that, he’s also on the cusp of equalling Schumacher’s tally of seven World titles.

But, like Schumacher did, Hamilton doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for his success, told that it is dependent on machinery.

He told The Race that is “not always a nice thing to hear, but I’m not mad at it.”

He continued: “What I do know is that those that often say those things or make those comments, they just don’t know.

“And I think in general in life, we often can sometimes give the wrong opinion on something when we don’t have the full facts.

“We don’t have the full knowledge of how it really is.”

I remember watching Michael as a kid, winning all those races and I was just dreaming of being there myself. It shows dreams really can come true. A big, big thank you to @SchumacherMick, this was truly a surreal moment. One that i’ll remember forever. 🙏🏾 #91 pic.twitter.com/LUzfSz79HB

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) October 11, 2020

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Following Sunday’s race, Hamilton was presented with one of Schumacher’s Mercedes helmets by his son, Mick.

Schumacher raced for Mercedes from 2010 to 2012 before handing the race seat over to Hamilton.

Hamilton acknowledges that his success, like Schumacher’s, was a team effort.

“Years ago, I remember when they talked about Michael, turning Ferrari around,” he said. “The fact is it’s not one individual.

“I have not turned Mercedes around. Michael did not turn Ferrari around – as much as I love Michael and he is a legend, it wasn’t just him.

“There’s so many people in the background. What they did is the collaboration.

“I think the thing with a driver like Michael and I, our job is to kind of be the rudder.

“You’ve got this huge powerful force behind you with such intelligence. But a computer in numbers, it will tell you that the perfect car is so and so, but when you apply the human element, which is myself or is Michael or other drivers, our job is to steer it.

“I think there’s something that the computer can’t simulate. And that’s feel, that’s yaw, that’s the feeling of the car turning and pitching and all these different things.

“Our job is to steer the team in the right direction and point them in the right direction to progress forward. And our job is to continue to elevate and push and hopefully inspire those guys that you work with.”

He added: “We all have these tools. It’s how you use them, how you apply them, do you let your ego get in the way?

“There are some people that just won’t listen, because sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees.

“But the great thing with this team is I have not faced that once. If I ever have and there may be one example, we hashed it out.”

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