Lewis Hamilton feared he would never win in Formula One again after his struggles since the end of his thrilling duel with Max Verstappen for the 2021 championship.
He returned to the grid the next season both mentally frayed and with a porpoising car that was well off the pace.
Mercedes got their design concept wrong for too long and were too slow, or maybe even too stubborn, to rip it up and start all over again. It was enough for Hamilton to finally succumb to the long-term interest of Ferrari and agree to join the team for next season.
In recent weeks, Hamilton and his Mercedes had finally begun to look competitive, capped by a thrilling win for the 39-year-old at Sunday’s British Grand Prix — his ninth at Silverstone and 104th of his illustrious career coming 945 days after his last success.
Afterwards, he said: “The adversity we have gone through as a team and I have personally experienced, the constant challenge, like we all have, to get out of bed every day and give it your best shot.
“So many times when you feel like your best shot is not good enough, and the disappointment sometimes you can feel.
“We live in a time when mental health is such a serious issue. There have definitely been moments between 2021 and here when I didn’t feel like I was good enough, or thought it was never going to happen again.
There have definitely been moments when I didn’t feel like I was good enough, or thought it was never going to happen again
“I have never cried coming from a win. It just came out of me. It was a really great feeling and I am really grateful for it.”
Hamilton sobbed on the shoulder of his father, Anthony, following a long embrace, and was similarly tearful as he hugged his mother, Carmen, in the immediate moments after the race.
Prior to that, the Briton had been involved in a thrilling battle with both Verstappen and Lando Norris throughout the race before taking the chequered flag for a victory his team principal Toto Wolff called “a fairytale”.
Hamilton’s last win, in Jeddah during the final moments of a thrilling 2021 season, was the precursor to the finale in Abu Dhabi, which ended in controversial circumstances and resulted in Verstappen, not Hamilton, narrowly winning the title.
At points, Hamilton said he was lost for words over a victory that will surely rank as one of the most special in his career.
Was it better than his first British Grand Prix victory?
“I don’t feel I am able to compare them,” he said. “But that is the longest stint that I have had without a win, and the emotion accumulated over that time, this could be one of the most special ones for me, if not the most special one.”
The battle for victories now looks set to be a three-way tussle between the Red Bulls, McLarens and Mercedes for the rest of the season.
Team boss Wolff was quick to credit technical whizz James Allison for unlocking the potential of the team’s car when he finally made sense of what had previously been a pig of a car.
“There was a moment where, led by James, suddenly the data made sense,” said the Austrian. “The way we made it, the way we balanced the car and how we could bring it in a better sweet spot, that was the main thing. It wasn’t a miracle front wing, it was more the balance we achieved.
“There is more to come in terms of performance. We are bringing updates to Budapest and Spa but, on the other side, we mustn’t get carried away.”
