Lewis Hamilton claims his time was wasted at McLaren – Formula 1 news
Lewis Hamilton has claimed that after the first two years at McLaren, his time was wasted with the team, as he did not have the car to fight for the title.
The 28-year-old driver started his career in 2007 and was in a very good position to win the championship straightaway. However, he was involved in a fight with teammate Fernando Alonso, which cost both of them a chance to finish on top of the points table.
Things became better for the British driver in 2008 and he won his maiden championship after a close battle against Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. However, he started facing numerous issues from that point onwards and eventually decided to switch teams at the end
of the 2012 season.
According to Hamilton, “The car makes such a big difference so you're just wasting away your best years. I got to F1 and nearly won in my first year, then I won in my second year but I've never had a car to really compete since then.”
He went onto say, “One (title) is less prestigious now because so many people have won a championship. Now the people who have two or three or four, (that is what) makes you special.”
Although Formula 1 pundits thought that the 2008 world champion made a mistake by leaving McLaren for Mercedes, yet he has managed to silence his critics after securing some solid points in the opening seven rounds of the ongoing season.
Hamilton has been on the podium thrice this year, which shows that he has the potential to fight for victories. His team was struggling with tyre wear at the start of the year, but things have started improving with the passage of time.
Moreover, his teammate Nico Rosberg triumphed in the Monaco GP, which clearly indicates that Mercedes are capable of winning races.
On the other hand, McLaren’s form has dipped significantly compared to the previous years. Their drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez have simply failed to cause any problems for the front-runners. They have even struggled to score points with consistency,
which proves that Hamilton made the move at the right time.
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