Lewis Hamilton: My Story. Lewis Hamilton

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СКАЧАТЬ four points, but I left in second place, just a single point behind the new champion Kimi Räikkönen. I may have been hit by mechanical problems, but I was beaten fair and square on the Interlagos track by Kimi and his Ferrari. It was no time for recriminations or complaints. I do not believe in doing that; I do not blame my team when things happen. We all win and lose together. Kimi drove superbly and won six races in all, including three out of the final four Grands Prix. He deserved his success. That is why I was quick to congratulate him at the end of the race in the parc fermé. I felt sore for myself, but I felt happy for Kimi – he is a cool guy and he has been a great competitor this year.

      I had just finished my rookie year at the age of 22. I knew I had a future in Formula One and, with reasonable luck, plenty more opportunities to win the World Championship. I had no doubt about that. It had been a fantastic season and instead of feeling down, or in any kind of pain, I felt we had a lot to celebrate and enjoy. I felt proud of the way the team had come through a sometimes stormy, controversial year and I felt proud, too, of my family and all my friends and supporters who had helped me to get where I was, so close to the title in my first season. It was a day to be happy. In the end, the year was not decided by that one race in Brazil, but a whole championship season.

      It was also one of the most exciting Formula One seasons ever, at least on the track. If somebody had told me a year ago that I would be fighting for the World Championship at the end of the 2007 season, I would have said they were dreaming. But that is what happened. In the end, I lost by just one point, but I proved I had the potential to be involved in more and more championship fights in the future. Nobody would have predicted that I would finish second in my first season, so there was no reason for anything but celebrations. I did my best, the team did their best and there was nothing any of us could do to change things. In all honesty, at the end, I just felt it had been a really intense, crazy year and, truly, I did not feel gutted by the outcome. It was cool. I believed and still believe in the team and the car, and I am looking ahead with real optimism.

      Who would have thought I would be leading the World Championship going into the last race? Who could have imagined the crowds we had at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix? Who would have dreamt that I would go to North America and win back-to-back Grands Prix in Canada and the United States? Or win four races and start from pole position six times in 17 races?

      I know it was all against me in the end, and that the final two races were bad results for me, but I plan to learn from that and to go into next year and try to improve all round. I am going to come back fitter, more relaxed and more experienced – and I will have a better car and I will push harder for the championship. To think I came straight from GP2 to be ranked number two in the world is a positive thing and I know we will be strong next year. We will do a better job, for sure, the team will keep pushing and I have got the experience now and I will bank that. I cannot wait for the next race! Of course, I felt emotional afterwards in Brazil, at least a little bit. I try not to show emotions, but I cannot deny that I felt it a little when the season ended.

      When I think back, there are so many great memories: my GP2 Championship, then the opportunity to test for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team and those early tests at Silver-stone and at Jerez in September and October 2006. They were just a year before the title-decider in Brazil. I remember that first week of testing at Silverstone when I wore some other dude’s race suit to start with, and it smelt. When I got my own, I thought it was so cool, I wanted to sleep in it! The whole journey for me, from my earliest days as part of the McLaren and Mercedes-Benz family to Formula One, has been quite emotional. And this last year has been a rollercoaster.

      The test at Silverstone – only a year before I flew to Japan and China for the two Grands Prix that lifted me within reach of the title and then dashed my hopes – was the best week of my life at the time. I enjoyed it so much. I felt the pressure, because it was my first test, but it was so cool. I worked my way through it. The thing that really struck me, after GP2, was the downforce in the high-speed corners. I was like, ‘Wow, this is Formula One! I want this!’ And then I went to Jerez to test again, and gradually, after not such a fast start, I was into it and doing the laps. I just loved that testing and it went well and, looking back now, I have only good memories.

      It seems so long ago. So, too, does the day I was confirmed as Fernando’s team-mate, as a race driver in the team, and all the other testing. And the launch in Valencia on 15 January earlier in the year, when we did all the razzmatazz and had those huge crowds and did the ‘doughnuts’ in the streets…So much has happened since – and luckily for me, nearly all of it has been good. One of the few bad days came when I had a big accident testing the new MP4-22 at Valencia in January before the season. Fortunately for me I was unhurt, but the car was quite badly damaged and it set us back in our test programme. That accident was a shaker for me, a reminder of what these cars can do and it was a big part of my early learning experience with the team.

      In fact I have learned something every day in this last year. I am so competitive that I always want to achieve more and more. It is a positive force for me. I want to win. You have to be realistic and remember this was my first season and that it was something special for me. I was bound to make some mistakes. I started out just hoping to learn a lot, to challenge Fernando and to prove I was worth my seat in the team. The level of expectation was a measure of how far I had gone in that space of time.

      After Brazil, I was asked if there was anything different I would do for next season given my experiences this year. A lot of things, really. Now after one season in Formula One, I have the experience to know how to plan my year differently so I can be more structured and have more time for myself and for my family. Next year I will know the circuits, apart from the new ones – and they are street circuits so I love them anyway. It is not so much about doing things differently but doing them better. I want to be fitter, work harder and be a better driver all round. I know all of this is not something that can be achieved in one year, as it takes time to evolve – especially if you are striving to become the best in the world. My dream is still there and it is still in front of me. So in one way, maybe it is a good thing that I have not been crowned number one this year, because there is a long time to come in my life and I am sure I will have a lot more opportunities.

      I find it easy to overcome disappointments and negativity. Life goes on and every new day is a new positive. Sometimes, you just have to say to yourself, ‘Get on with it.’ I am my own biggest critic and often want to say, ‘Lewis, kick it!’ I push myself. It is the same for us all in the team and we work for each other, helping one another as much as we can. A racing team is not just about the person who is driving the car. It is much, much bigger than that. I have been very lucky this year to have learned a lot from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. I have gained so much from driving and handling the car, set-up, tyre selection, strategy and the whole range of factors that can make a driver successful.

      I have also learned a lot about the politics of Formula One…

       CHAPTER

       2

       INSPIRATIONS

      ‘Dad is my biggest supporter, and a fantastic father, without whom I may not have even discovered I had any talent for racing.’

      TO BE A FORMULA ONE RACING DRIVER you need to be extremely fit and prepared – both physically and mentally for the whole challenge. It is far more exhausting than you can ever imagine if you have never raced in a car. And it is not easy. Sometimes, if you are not feeling right, if you do not have the right energy levels, it can be impossible. It is important to find your own way, then keep your mind clear and maintain the right level of motivation.

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