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Lewis Hamilton says back in 2013 when he joined Mercedes, he followed his ‘gut feeling’ and this led him “to this amazing team and this incredible journey we are on”.
Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes back in 2013, while the team was still a struggling midfield outfit.
The decision to leave a front-running McLaren was criticised by most observers, but it turned out to be the right decision, as just a year later Mercedes had risen to the top of Formula 1.
Lewis says he was aware of the risks when he made the decision, but he felt it was the right thing to do.
“Did it feel like a risk? Of course,” the Briton told Speedcafe.com.
“When you make decisions, you go through changes and it’s always going to be a risk. But I would feel like I’m not living if I’m not taking risks, not constantly challenging myself and those around me.
“It was the inevitable direction I had to go, and it felt right. I wanted something new.
“I was excited to work with new people and enter a team that had struggled. Taking everything that I had learned and seeing if I could apply it somewhere else.
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“I was excited by the plans I had heard were being put in place to scale up the team and going all in to become champions.
“I went with what I felt in my gut and in my heart. It led me to this amazing team and this incredible journey we are on.”
However, Lewis does admit that he had some doubts initially, but very soon it became obvious that he had made the right decision.
“I knew that if I didn’t make the move though, I would have regretted it. I didn’t have any second thoughts…
“Although I do remember around Christmas sitting outside in the cold looking over the snowy mountains and thinking: ‘Shoot, I hope I’ve made the right decision’.
“I had a moment of reflection and thought, ‘We’ve done it so we’re going to give it everything’. I focused on training the best I could and bringing the best I could to the team.
“I also thought about how great it would be to get a win in that first season, something we managed to achieve,” Hamilton concluded.
