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Lewis Hamilton ‘lost control’ of his emotions and cried after winning the Turkish Grand Prix and wrapping up his seventh Formula 1 title because it was all “too much”.
Hamilton’s voice broke as he initially celebrated his achievement over the team radio, and he could also be heard choking back tears as he responded to congratulations from team boss Toto Wolff, before falling into silence for the majority of his in-lap.
He remained in his car for more than a minute, and even held his head in his hands after pulling to a stop in front of his parc ferme board.
Hamilton was then flanked by podium finishers Sebastian Vettel – who told him “we’re witnessing you making history, man” – and Sergio Perez, then took a little while longer to compose himself, perched atop his cockpit as he slowly extracted himself from the car.
Finally, he hauled himself fully to his feet, raised his arms aloft, shook hands with team-mate and defeated title rival Valtteri Bottas – then ran across parc ferme, dumped his helmet on the floor, and launched himself into wild celebrations with his team.
“Very rarely do I ever lose control of my emotions,” said Hamilton afterward. But the magnitude of his achievement meant he broke his own personal rule.
“I didn’t want the visor to come up and people to see tears flowing and all that stuff,” he laughed.
“I kind of had always said that I would never let you see me cry. I’ve been watching other drivers in the past crying and I was like, I’m not gonna do that!
“But it was too much.”
The intense nature of the Turkish GP had required all of Hamilton’s focus as he battled from sixth on the grid to gradually put himself into contention for a victory that did not likely in the early stages, nor at any point this weekend once Mercedes’ weakness around the low-grip Istanbul circuit had become clear.
Even once clear of the fading Perez late on, he was gripped by a debate with his team about whether to pit for an extra set of intermediates, to protect against the risk of late rain while his ever-wearing set was reduced to baldness.
Hamilton has tended not to let title thoughts run away with him off-track, let alone on it. But he said that with so much still to concentrate on he had to tell himself to “keep it together” in the closing stages.
“I could feel it getting closer,” he admitted. “And knowing that if I finish where I’m finishing right now, I’ve got this championship.
“All these emotions were running through me, and I was trying to stop it. Because I was thinking about my whole career, from when I was five, when I drove a go-kart, from when we won that first British championship driving home with my dad singing ‘We Are The Champions’ and dreaming of being here.
“And it’s right there, minutes away. And that was a lot to take in.
“When I came across the line, I think it hit me and I just burst into tears I think that whole inlap and I just couldn’t get out of the car. I just couldn’t believe it.”
In Hamilton’s first media opportunity out of the car, he paid tribute to his team, family, and supporters. By the time he was swept to the post-race press conference he had conducted parc ferme interviews, completed the podium ceremony, had another TV interview up there, then been swamped by more TV crews.
Through the frenzy, he did not have the chance to speak to his family. He said he’d received a text from his mum just before the race but hadn’t read it because he was rushing to get in the car.
But he said he hoped they felt “fulfilled”, reiterated how much his parents had “sacrificed” for him early on, and said they were a part of the swirl of emotions that engulfed him after the flag.
“I think I’ve been very strong,” he mused. “But I couldn’t have done it without a great man behind me, my dad, who on the days that I didn’t think that I was good enough or I 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 stepmum and my brother who stood by me through thick and thin.”
Hamilton’s success is steeped in emotion. He has used his ever-increasing platform and colossal 2020 success to magnify a message of equality all year. While it has courted criticism in various quarters, he has been emboldened by a resurgent global diversity movement and thrown his weight behind that on social media and in reality.
He revived that message in the wake of combined Turkish GP and title success, from his scream over the radio that his win for kids who believe in the “impossible”, to the proclamation out of the car that “there’s more to do” and his on-track success will be complemented by sustained effort off it as well.
“This is a world championship, and this is the pinnacle of my life so far,” he said. “But there’s a much bigger win that we all collectively need to work together towards.
“And that’s pushing for equality, that’s pushing for equal opportunity for all these kids that are out there so we can create a better future.
“But that’s gonna take us all doing it together.”
