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Lewis Hamilton names the best race of his F1 career as he celebrates 10 years with Mercedes.
In his Formula One career thus far, Sir Lewis Hamilton has identified what he feels to be the “best and most special race.”
The seven-time world champion holds the record for the most race wins in F1 history with 103 to his name at the time of writing and has had many memorable victories over the years.
Hamilton has a different victory in mind: the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix. Many analysts and fans have chosen his 2008 British Grand Prix victory at a wet Silverstone as his best performance.
One of his most recent victories occurred near the conclusion of the legendary British sportsman’s epic title fight with Max Verstappen, and the two infamously exchanged punches all weekend long, both on and off the track.
Although Hamilton managed to climb back up to sixth in the sprint, he has again penalised five positions for changing his engine. Hamilton had qualified on the pole for the sprint race but was knocked off the front of the field for a very minor technical infraction.
He miraculously battled back, and following a hard battle with Verstappen, he managed to hold off Red Bull to secure a crucial victory for his title chances.
‘I think for sure my best race ever, and probably the most special race of my career,’ Hamilton said in a video where he looked back on various memories from his 10 years with Mercedes.
‘I was so proud to hold this [Brazilian] flag on the podium because I had watched the news through the pandemic, I’d seen the horrific stories and felt so much pain for so many people around the world that were losing people to the Coronavirus.
‘Obviously Brazil had lost I think it was over half a million people through that pandemic, through neglect from certain individuals and you could just tell there was so much pain within the country, and growing up I always loved Ayrton Senna so I’d watch him when he was carrying that flag.
‘Anyways, I qualified pole and I got disqualified for a wing that was 0.02 millimetres out, something crazy like that, and I remember in that moment for me, my heart just sunk because I knew that I had to win every race.
‘I remember in that moment, I thought, “It’s over, I can’t win this World Championship”, and just with all the work that we had done through the year, I just felt so deflated and so powerless.
‘And somehow, it’s been something that I’ve been able to do my whole career really, somehow is to like, “move on, I know we’re going to get there, there’s nothing you can do about the past, you move forwards, we can do this”.
‘I just stayed in the evening and just put it aside, I did all the studying and I came back the next day and drove from last to first.
‘I saw one of the marshals holding the flag and I stopped and grabbed it, and that was just one of the most special moments. When I held the flag up on the podium, it really just signaled to everyone within Brazil that I acknowledge you, I appreciate you, I appreciate Ayrton and love Ayrton, I always have since I was a kid.
‘I was hoping that I would lift up the nation in some way even though I wasn’t Brazilian, but now I am Brazilian.’
Interlagos has always held a particular place in Hamilton’s heart. The 38-year-old has won there three times total and claimed his maiden world championship there in 2008. Hamilton was given honorary citizenship in Brazil last year.