Hamilton not worried: 'That has to have been 2001'

Lewis Hamilton had a difficult season at Mercedes. Not only did the German formation not manage to compete for the world title, the Briton himself could not register a Grand Prix victory. The latter was a while ago for Hamilton.

However, the seven-time world champion remains confident going forward. "It certainly does not demotivate me," he revealed in conversation with Sport Bild. "I'm sure I've had seasons without victories before. It just has to have been 2001 in karting."

Mercedes suffered from porpoising at the start of the racing year, among other problems, which meant it lost a lot of speed on the straights. For the team, there was nothing to do but accept the loss and work hard behind the scenes to solve the problems.

For Hamilton, it meant experiencing race weekends where he qualified in the middle of the pack for the first time in years. It made the British driver a different person. "Some results still felt like victories, even though they weren't," he said.

"I appreciate success much more now. After the race in Brazil, when George Russell won and I came second, I was incredibly happy with that team performance," Hamilton stressed. The driver finished sixth in the world championship, below teammate Russell.