© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Lewis Hamilton was visibly emotional after he crossed the line to win the Turkish Grand Prix and his seventh world title.
Hamilton could be heard cracking up on the team radio and later kept his visor on for a long time, before getting out of his car. At the post race press conference he explained what was going on in those moments.
“Very rarely to do ever lose control of my emotions,” the Briton said.
“And I think those last few laps, I remember those last few laps and obviously we’re having a discussion whether we’re going to pit. I was just telling myself, ‘keep it together Lewis, you’ve got this’.
“I could feel it getting closer and also knowing that, if I finish where I’m finishing right now, that I’ve got this championship. So, all of these emotions were running through me, and I was trying to stop it because I was thinking about my whole career, y’know?
“From when I was five, when I drove in the go-kart, from when we’ve won our first British Championship, driving home with my Dad, singing ‘We Are the Champions’, and dreaming of being here – it is right there, minutes away and that was a lot to take in.
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“When I came across the line, it really hit me and I just burst into tears, I think. That whole in-lap. And then I really just couldn’t get out of the car because I just couldn’t believe it.
“I just… for me, I’ve been very strong but I couldn’t have done it without the great man behind me, my Dad, who, on the days when I didn’t think I was good enough, or wasn’t going to do well enough, he stood me up and kept me going.
“So, I was thinking of him, I was thinking of my Mum, I was thinking of my step-mother Linda, my brother, who all stood by me through thick and thin.
“I didn’t want the visor to come up and for people to see tears flowing and all of that stuff – because I had always said that I would never let you see me cry.
“I remember watching other drivers in the past crying and I was like” ‘I am not going to do that’ – but it was too much,” concluded the seven-time champion.
