F1 News
Hamilton opens up: "Was in touch with Niki a lot through the past eight months"
Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton has opened up about his relationship with the late Niki Lauda, whom he worked very closely with during his time at Mercedes, saying he was in touch often with the Austrian since he collapsed in the past summer.
The news of Lauda's passing, which came early last week, hit Hamilton hard, as he was excused from media duties in Monaco on Wednesday.
After winning the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday with a spectacular drive while wearing a red helmet in honour of his friend, Hamilton revealed how much he was in contact with the 70-year-old.
“I was really in touch with Niki a lot through this past eight months," he said after the race.
"We would be sending videos back and forth to each other. It was always difficult because some days he looked good and was really perky and ‘I’m coming back, I’m coming strong and I’ll be at this race’. And then there’s other days where he had immediately lost a lot of weight.”
Remembering him, Hamilton credits Lauda for a lot of his successes in recent year, becoming a five-time champion and the driver with most pole positions ever.
“Ultimately, he was part of the process of changing my life.
"If I hadn’t had the call all that time ago, I would be a one-time world champion now and probably 22 wins whatever it was when I was at McLaren and I sit here a five-time world champion and I definitely feel like I owe him a lot.”
