KUALA LUMPUR: Seven-time Formula One (F1) world champion, Lewis Hamilton (pix) is hoping to showcase a strong outing to challenge for the title in his last season with the Mercedes AMG Petronas team.
The 39-year-old British driver, who admitted that the start of the season wasn’t as great as expected after finishing seventh and ninth respectively in Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (GP), is optimistic to get on winning ways with the Silver Arrows.
“The season hasn’t started off well, so we face another uphill challenge and battle, and I think I just want to finish off great. We approach the same way we always have, we did some amazing things together, a great privilege and pleasure to work with Mercedes and Petronas.
“I think I just want to finish high and give it absolutely everything this year. I wish we will fight for the championship this season, unfortunately not at the moment, but still long way to go,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview on Friday.
Hamilton, who joined Mercedes in 2013 to win six world championship and 82 Grand Prix, will be leaving the once-dominating Silver Arrows at the end of this season, which has a 24-race format, to join Ferrari in 2025.
The seven-time world champion (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), sharing the honour of most F1 world championship title victories with the sport’s great Michael Schumacher, is also determined to go for a record eighth world championship.
”Still far fetched at the moment, but that is the north star (symbol of hope and direction). It takes the whole team, a lot of people that need to come together and do an exceptional job.
“That’s what we are working...Communicating, working towards all the different challenges available there,” he added.
Mercedes, who were a dominant force from 2014 to 2021, are now facing a GP victory drought since Hamilton’s teammate George Russell emerged winner in the Brazil GP on Nov 13, 2022.
Hamilton, who made a quick stop in Malaysia enroute to Melbourne for next weekend’s Australian GP, made a special appearance at the SMK Seri Keramat here, yesterday, where he saw the ongoing efforts on sustainability and biodiversity.
“Their enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education subjects was clear, I thoroughly enjoyed helping in some of their experiments and hopefully one day we will see some of the pupils working in our sport. It’s such an important topic and it’s great to see the kids taking such an interest from a young age,” he said.
SMK Seri Keramat emerged as winner among 39 schools competing in a responsible waste management programme led by a Petronas subsidiary, Petronas Chemicals Group.
Meanwhile, Petronas Brand Advocacy Management, Strategic Communications, Group Strategic Relations and Communications general manager Khairul Hisham Mazlan said, the national oil and gas giant is passionate about driving progress towards a better future for all, which includes preparing communities to be more adaptive, resilient and contribute towards a healthier planet.
“This initiative with SMK Seri Keramat not only provides students with hands-on STEM learning opportunities but also serves as a platform for us to foster a shared understanding of our collective responsibility.
“This year is a special year for Petronas – we celebrate our 50th anniversary. What you see today is a testament to our passion to continuously progress and create better solutions together that benefit people, our partners and the planet,” he said.
He added that, the programme is in line with one of Petronas’ social impact pillars – Planting Tomorrow – which focuses on educating young minds on the importance of biodiversity conservation and sustainable living. -Bernama
