F1 News

Lewis Hamilton has become more of a team player throughout Formula 1 career

Lewis Hamilton has become "more of a team player" throughout Formula 1 career

18-09-2019 13:23
2 Comments
Author profile picture

Bobby Vincent

Lewis Hamilton has claimed he's become "more of a team player" throughout his illustrious Formula 1 career, compared to when he first started in the sport.

Hamilton has revealed his thought-process regarding how much risk to take has altered over the years, with the five-time world champion clearly maturing as his career has progressed.

"Now, the goal is to help the team get the most points and finish as high as possible," Hamilton said. "When you're slightly further back, you're willing to take a little bit more risk to gain one extra position, and when you're in the lead, you're thinking long-term.

"It's a subtle difference, but also when you're younger, you care less in general, you know? Your perceptions are different when you're younger to when we're all older.

"When you're 21 to where you are now - so now I'm in the car, I'm thinking of how much space I have to give each driver, I'm thinking of the fact that I have 2000 people who make my car and they rely on me to make the smart decision and not be selfish and try to get that extra one spot - which would be good but it comes at a cost of potentially losing the team the constructors' championship.

"I think as I've got older, I've become more of a team player, more of an understanding of 'you cannot win them all'."