Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton admitted it’ll be a spectacular end to the season if Max Verstappen does win the championship at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Verstappen holds a 116-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship and could clinch the title this weekend if he wins and Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez struggle.
“Definitely I feel for the fans because that’s us last year going right down to the wire that was intense for everybody and it’s never great when the season ends early,” Hamilton stated at Thursday’s press conference.
“Even when I’ve experienced having it finish early in places like Mexico, for you as the one individual it’s great but for the actual sport it’s not spectacular.
“I’m really grateful that I’ve had like 2008 right down to the last 17 seconds and obviously last year pretty much the same thing so let’s hope for the future that it’s a bit better.”
Second title changed Hamilton’s life
If Verstappen does claim the 2022 title, he’ll become the first double champion on the grid since Hamilton added a second crown in 2014.
While Verstappen’s likely to go back-to-back, it took Hamilton six seasons to return to the top of the pile as he toiled in a McLaren team that could never capture the right blend of pace and consistency.
He switched to Mercedes after suffering three retirements in the last seven races of the 2012 season, all from race-winning positions.
Though criticised at the time, Hamilton had the last laugh when he beat Nico Rosberg to the 2014 title in just his second year at the team.
“It definitely changed a lot in my life because I obviously had that dry spell, Hamilton added when asked about that title win.
“I would say more so because I’d taken the step and the leap of faith moving to another team, I went against most of the advice that I’d had from people around me, people I’d consider mentors who all said to stay put.”
“To finally then get back into that position it was a very very special year, and also for the team who’d also been on the receiving end of the negativity, ‘they’re not good enough’ or whatever they may be so it was a huge huge moment and really catapulted us into the next years of success and development and what a journey it’s been.”
