Lewis Hamilton opens up on heartbreaking inspiration behind phenomenal Spanish GP comeback

Lewis Hamilton opens up on heartbreaking inspiration behind phenomenal Spanish GP comeback

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton devoted his breathtaking fightback drive in the Spanish Grand Prix to a terminally ill five-year-old fan. On Saturday, the seven-time F1 world champion met Isla and her parents ahead of a race in which he collided with Kevin Magnussen’s Haas on the first lap, dropping him to 19th and 38 seconds behind the rest of the grid after a pit stop.

After being intrigued by race engineer Pete Bonington’s suggestion that the team withdraw the car to retain the power unit, Hamilton soared to fourth place. Even after a water leak on the W13 during the closing laps, which forced Hamilton to give up fifth place to Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at the beginning of the final lap, team principal Toto Wolff praised Hamilton’s effectiveness.

When asked if a push like that on Sunday satisfied the racer in him more than the lion’s share of his 103 race victories, Hamilton responded: “One-hundred per cent! A race like that is like a win and feels better, most often, than a win when you have come from so far back. Ultimately, there was a lot of adversity coming from so far back. There was a young girl that I spoke to who was my inspiration. Isla, a five-year-old that is terminally ill and she said ‘Will you win the race for me.”

FS Video

Also Read: “The rest of the grid got a reminder,” Lewis Hamilton hailed after making huge gains with a damaged car

Lewis Hamilton talks about the collision with Kevin Magnussen

The collision between Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen
The collision between Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen

After talking about his initial dejection on being dropped down to P19 early on in the race and dedicating his win to the terminally-ill 5-year-old fan, Hamilton went on to talk about the drastic collision with Kevin Magnussen’s VF-22.

A puncture caused by the collision with Magnussen at turn four on the opening lap ended Hamilton’s chances of competing for a podium, which teammate George Russell ended up taking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV32BaYOFf8

The Dane approached Hamilton, who had decided to start on medium tyres, but the two collided, with Magnussen getting away through the gravel. In response to the incident, Hamilton stated: “I was just on a normal line, on the inside and he came out of nowhere and hit me. He came from behind and hit the side of my car.”

Also Read: “We’ll be fighting for the win,” Lewis Hamilton positive about the upgraded Mercedes W13 after Spanish GP

Also Read: Mercedes porpoising is ‘almost’ gone, confirms Lewis Hamilton