Hamilton jokes: 'Number 1 on car Verstappen was eyesore!'

Lewis Hamilton has reflected to Channel 4 on the difficult year he has had. The Mercedes driver was unable to continue the line of recent years and ended a season without winning a race for the first time in his career.

Although it was by no means the season Mercedes had hoped for, there is certainly a positive conclusion for the German racing stable. Whereas at the beginning of the year the team had to struggle to keep up with Red Bull and Ferrari, Hamilton and Russell were able to regularly compete at the front in the second half of the season. The team has clearly taken steps to solve the problem it suffered from at the beginning.

Nevertheless, a special record did fall for Hamilton. For the first time since he joined Formula 1 in 2007, the Briton has failed to win a race for a season. In his own words, however, that is not something that is very important to him.

"It's more that big, ugly number 1 on Verstappen's car. It was as big on it as it could get!" laughs Hamilton. "No, that's just a joke. This kind of thing doesn't do much for me. A lot of people say something and hope for a reaction from me, but I'm just chill about it. It doesn't really matter to me. Of course I would have preferred to fight at the front and compete with Red Bull, but this year has been a fantastic adventure."