Hamilton’s surprise admission: ‘I don’t care what position I finish this year'

Despite Mercedes’ inability to challenge for race victories once again this year, Hamilton has enjoyed a very solid season, sitting fourth in the drivers’ championship.

The seven-time world champion has finished on the podium on four occasions, while he sits 39 points ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

In an interview with Channel 4, Hamilton revealed that he’s “focused” on helping Mercedes with their development of the car rather than his own championship position. 

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“I really don’t care what position I finish in this year,” he said. “I’m just focused on just trying to give the best development information for the team, working with the guys to make sure we steer this car in the right way and when we start the first race or the first test next year we hit the ground running.

“We don’t have bouncing, we have the rear downforce we need and the car’s efficient and we can keep up with everybody, that’s my dream. So I’m looking further down the road.”

Mercedes scored just one win in 2022 as the porpoising phenomenon plagued their season.

It means Hamilton hasn’t scored a victory in F1 since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Reflecting on last year, Hamilton added: “Last year was very, very, very hard. I can’t even put words how difficult it was for the team. The car was just…I can’t say anymore and obviously the work we’ve done in terms of towards the end of the year. Obviously we had a good race [in Sao Paulo] but then to start this year, again, kind of on the back foot.

“It’s definitely been a much more positive year for us, I think we’ve made bigger strides. We’ve had some good results on the podium, it’s more it’s really hard to predict where we’re going with the steps that we’re starting to take.

“We have a new wing this weekend [at Silverstone] so it’s not a huge update, but people work so hard just for that wing so I’m hoping that it helps us take a step in the right direction. Bit by bit as we bolt on these things, the car’s becoming more and more of a race car.

“Look if we’re competing like last year towards the end of this season, on one side that’s a good thing on another, the other teams have probably switched off and focused on the next year.”