Lewis Hamilton has expressed his gratefulness to the Mercedes team as he celebrated an epic milestone of reaching 200 podiums in his illustrious career. The Briton achieved his 200th podium after a P3 finish in Hungary last weekend. Following his podium in Budapest, the Mercedes team gave him an emotional gift.
The gift showed all the pictures of Hamilton’s 200 podiums in F1. On receiving the gift, a grateful Hamilton said, “While these are all individual pictures of me, there are so many people in the background that made that…whose shoulders I am standing on“.
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Having driven in F1 for 17 years, Hamilton is more than aware that achieving success in this sport requires a team effort. He probably has understood the same all the more due to his struggles in the past couple of seasons until recently.
Before his most recent podium in Hungary, he won his home race at Silverstone, a victory that came more than two years after his win at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Despite his failure to win a race in more than two seasons, he has registered a record 104 wins in F1.
Hence, while there is no doubt that Hamilton is arguably one of the greatest drivers of all time, he revealed in the video that his only goal was to reach F1. All his other podiums, victories, and seven championships are a bonus. While Hamilton often understates the importance of his achievements, he rarely hesitates to take a dig at the younger drivers.
Hamilton took a dig at Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Hungary
Instead of focusing on his 200th podium in Hungary, Hamilton chose to focus on how long he has driven in F1. When asked what his 200th podium meant to him, he replied,
The number doesn’t, I just think about these two [pointing to Norris and Piastri] and how young these guys are! They were wearing nappies when I started!”
Hamilton began driving in F1 back in 2007 when Norris was only eight. Meanwhile, Piastri was six. This comparison proves the longevity of Hamilton and the experience he has over many of his competitors. The only driver who is older than him is 42-year-old Fernando Alonso.
