Lewis Hamilton opened up about how he bounced back from Abu Dhabi 2021 as he stressed his ‘hunger’ to claim his record eighth title.
As Sebastian Vettel told talkSPORT, Hamilton has the stats to prove he is Formula 1’s GOAT – chief among them are his seven world titles.
That coveted achievement is one he shares with Michael Schumacher, having been ‘cheated’ out of a record eighth four years ago.
Hamilton and title rival Max Verstappen astonishingly entered the 22nd and final race of the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi level on points.
The Brit appeared on course to romp home to victory with five laps to go, having built up a lead of over 12 seconds to the Dutchman.
However, a Nicholas Latifi crash saw the FIA manipulate the final lap to allow Verstappen the win in a decision motorsport’s governing body later admitted to finding ‘human error’ against.
The decision understandably remains a point of contention among British fans, with Hamilton one of Britain’s greatest-ever sportsmen.
Verstappen, who regularly receives negative reactions from crowds at Silverstone, also faced a playful jibe from one supporter in London.
Hamilton fans were out in full force last Friday when the man himself attended the opening of the new Fanatics store on Regent Street.
The Brit racer cut the ribbon before taking part in a surprise Q&A from delighted fans, with talkSPORT.com among those in the crowd.
The Ferrari star also opened some trading cards from Topps’ new ‘Lights Out’ collection, with Verstappen’s item among his rewards.
After he read out the name ‘Max’ to the room, one fan hilariously shouted ‘Who?’, to which Hamilton couldn’t help but crack up.
A delighted Hamilton came face to face with a card of his hero SennatalkSPORT But he couldn’t but laugh at the fan reaction to him packing Verstappen as welltalksportF1’s No.44 then engaged in a mini-dialogue with the supporter, who asked how he found the strength to continue competing.
Hamilton replied: “Keep finding the positives, you’ve got to keep on looking ahead, keep your head up. Life is full of challenges, right?
“There’s a reason for everything.”
Hamilton’s ex-Mercedes teammate George Russell said in December that Verstappen would have had former F1 race director Michael Masi ‘fearing for his life’ if he lost the title like the 40-year-old did.
Hamilton took the defeat magnanimously and was praised by fans in the Fanatics store for shaking the Red Bull man’s hand afterwards.
Responding to the praise, he said: “Ah, I appreciate it…Well, I’m hungry to come back for it [his eighth world title].”
The controversial 2021 decider was front-page news worldwideGettyHamilton, who was previously included in Topps’ trading cards via the brand’s F1 rights, has agreed a deal with Fanatics Collectibles.
The multi-year trading card and memorabilia partnership also includes an exclusive autograph deal.
Hamilton cards make up each of the top three publicly known F1 card sales to date, with one recently selling for $1million.
He said: “It’s just amazing to see how these cards bring people together.
“I remember as a kid, there used to be these books that we used to collect and go to the store.
A Hamilton 1/1 means serious money with huge collectors desperate to find themFanatics“I can’t remember how much, but it was like 10p or something like that.
“You’d get like five cards of all your football players, and we used to trade them all.
“We were trading them all through the school days, like at lunch time. I remember the deals I was trying to do.
“I was trading them with some Sherbets and some sweets to get the best cards.”
Hamilton continued: “I was doing pretty good. I finished most of the books that we had.
“Like every year, we’d get a book of the Premier League. I love how it brings people together. It’s been incredible to see stuff like this.”
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