Lewis Hamilton says he is focused on enjoying himself this weekend after his miserable conclusion to the last race before the summer break.
The Ferrari driver appeared despondent after qualifying 12th and finishing in the same position at the Hungaroring. He was unusually critical of his efforts, saying he had been “useless” and “shit every time” in qualifying. He gave perfunctory answers to questions after the race, which he described as “pretty bad”, and declined to attend a stewards’ hearing regarding an incident between him and Max Verstappen.
Hamilton distanced himself from his comments ahead of this weekend’s race at Zandvoort. “In the heat of the moment that can happen to anyone and it’s obviously not truly how I feel,” he told the official Formula 1 channel.
“Right now it’s just about calming some things down and just focusing on getting back to enjoying my job,” he added. “I love this sport, I always have, that’s why I got into it and I’m going to drown out all the noise and just get back to – this is a great restart moment for us.”
Hamilton has failed to reach the final stage in the last three qualifying sessions – two at Spa and one in Hungary. The last round was the first time this year he has failed to score points since joining Ferrari. However his team mate Charles Leclerc took pole position in Hungary and finished fourth.
The Ferrari driver said he feels rejuvenated after the four-week break since the last round. “I’ve just been with family, my niece and nephew and with Roscoe, and it’s been great,” he said.
“I enjoyed being away and being able to unplug and then just bring myself back to my core. That’s how I’ve always done it, with lots of meditation and just finding gratitude in every single day and realigning yourself to your core beliefs that have always been there and I will use those moving forwards.”
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