© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Ahead of the penultimate race of the season Lewis Hamilton says he likes to think that the whole Mercedes team has “gone to another level”.
Lewis Hamilton is trailing Max Verstappen by eight points ahead of the penultimate race of the season – the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Despite this, at the Thursday press conference the Briton said he is feeling more relaxed than ever before.
“I’m excited to be getting in the car, I’m very grateful we have these two races to fight it out,” Lewis said.
“The team’s working as hard as it can, I feel great. There’s a couple of bits that are different [in this title fight], in one sense because we’ve got two incredibly close teams.
“It’s different because we’re fighting for unchartered territory, no one has ever won eight drivers’ titles or teams’, so that’s new.
“And then on the other side, I’m more relaxed than I’ve ever been. It’s not the first time. I remember how it was with my first championship and even my second and third, the sleepless nights, and all those sorts of things, whereas I’m a lot more sure about myself and I’ve applied myself like never before.
“I know I can’t change anything from the past but all I can do is prepare as best as I can for what’s ahead of me, and I 100% know I have.”
When suggested that he has “gone to another level” after the hard-fought Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis said he doesn’t believe it was a big leap.
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“I don’t believe I’ve gone to another level, I believe I’m just at a good level in general. Maybe I tapped into something different in Brazil, that is just – maybe I haven’t been there before, I don’t know.
“I definitely have in my career before, been in those positions many, many times before. But I’d like to think I’ve been doing well all year; you are constantly learning, your surroundings, the car, how to work with the team, how to get more out of each member of the team.
“I like to think that all of us have [gone to another level], not just me – it’s been the engineers, it’s been the mechanics, every member of the team has pulled out more and that’s what’s been needed.
“We always need more performance, we need more focus, we need more power on the straights.”
And asked if his eighth title would be the most significant yet, the Briton said:
“I mean it would be, yeah, for sure. One being that again it’s something that no one’s ever done before.
“It’s been the toughest battle that the sport has seen for a long, long time, and the most challenging, so I think collectively it would be.
“Plus we’re in a pandemic, so all sorts of things we’ve been faced with,” concluded the seven-time champion.
