Lewis Hamilton has shifted the blame for his ill luck at the Malaysian Grand Prix from his Mercedes team to a higher power, suggesting that some form of divine intervention is tinkering with his chances to become Formula 1 world champion this season.
He launched an accusatory tirade at his team, upon returning to the pits shortly after retiring from the race at Sepang due to an engine blow-up, while he comfortably led the race and looked set for a 50th career victory.
Instead he was forced to watch from the sidelines as his teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg finish third and with it extend his championship lead to 23 points.
Hamilton vented his fury, directed at his team, to the assembled media before hours later tempering his accusations and seeking alternative sources to his great misfortune.
Some hours later, when asked to clarify his comments Hamilton had changed his tune somewhat, “Someone doesn’t want me to win. A higher power. It feels right now that the man above, or a higher power is intervening a little bit.”
Also rapidly changing his opinion with regards to Mercedes, “I feel like I’ve been blessed with so many big opportunities, firstly being here with all these people around here, the opportunity in this great team winning the last two championships.”
“[I’ve had] lots and lots of big trophies and records that I’m breaking time and time again, so I have to be grateful for those. While this does not feel great I feel grateful.”
“Honestly, you’ve got to understand from my point, on one side we’ve had the most incredible success over these last two years of which I am so grateful. These guys work so hard, we are all feeling the pain right now.”
“I have 100% confidence in these guys, I’ve been with them now into my fourth year with the guys in the garage, the guys back at the factory. I have 100% faith in them.
“I love it here and without them I would have not won these extra two championships and while the struggle is real now, and has been this year, honestly I feel it’s a test of will, a test of my spirit and who I am as a person to get back in and keep fighting it head on.
“It’s not how you fall it’s how you get back up. That’s really, I think, as much advice to me but to my guys as well because I saw tears in the eyes of my mechanics. So I know that we all bear the pain, but as I said it’s how we regroup, we’ve got to bear in mind what we’ve already built.
“While in the short term this does not look good and obviously for the year and in the long term it could be not very good but there’s lots of positives, there’s still five races and I believe that, I don’t know if my two engines are going to make it but I can only hope.”
“If I can perform the way I have performed this weekend then I’ve got everything still to play for,” ventured Hamilton.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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