Lewis Hamilton: Winning felt “empty” - warning to Max Verstappen: “I know how hard it is”

Hamilton finished sixth in the 2022 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:F1 standings, forced to watch Verstappen rack up a second consecutive title and edge a step closer to the joint-record of seven championships that the Brit shares with 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton didn’t win a single r꧃ace for the first time in a season but has told Bild: “It definitely doesn't demotivate me! I'm sure I've had seasons without wins before – that must have been in karting in 2001. Quite a long time ago!
“Last season, of course, we wanted to fight for the world championship, but we had to ackno🔜wledge reality early in the season. Some results still felt like victories, even if they weren't.
“We had so many successes before that it felt🐽 a🐬 little empty. We won, but we had expected it.
“That's weird because it's actually such a great thing. It was therefore all the better to see how hapꦆpy🐈 we were about the small stages.
“We were fighting for fifth place and everyone was excited. ꦍThen it was about fourth place, and everyone was totally thrilled. It was a nice ex🙈perience to be so happy about a fourth or fifth place.
“Also the feeling of fighting your way forward, ♐of having the first third or second place, to feel: We are almost there. That's something we've all needed.”

Hamilton insisted that a disastrous 202🍷2, where he fought his Mercedes’ porpoising and performance issues, has given him a new outlook on his previous glory.
“Yes, I appreciate success even more now. After the race in Brazil, when 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell🌠 won and I finished second, I was incredibly happy about this team performance.
Hamilton said about the wretched W13: “We got along better and better over the course of the season, the whole team worked together really well – even better than before. The year was definitely not a disappoi﷽ntment for me.”
Now 37, he has vowed to return this season to again fight his great rival Verstappeꦿn who is chas🥂ing a legacy as the sport’s best.
“I know how hard it is to be at💖 the top and stay there,” Hamilton warned Verstappen.
“We want to get back to the top! What giv🔴es us great hope is the end of this season. The last few races have shown a clear positive trend and prove that we can achieve anything with perseverance.”

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everythi𒉰ng from American sports, to footbal🍬l, to F1.