Lewis Hamilton still treating condensed F1 season as a ‘marathon’

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton says he is still treating the 2020 Formula 1 season as a “marathon”, despite great uncertainty over how the final calendar will look.

Hamilton comes into the heavily-delayed campaign looking to equal Michael Schumacher on seven world championships by successfully claiming what would be his sixth drivers’ title in the past seven years.

But the COVID-19 pandemic has given the 2020 season an extra dimension with an unprecedented run of eight races taking place in just 10 weeks, including two triple-header events.

F1 is working to finalise the rest of the world championship and is striving for between 15-18 races, although the exact nature of the revised 2020 calendar remains unknown heading this weekend’s season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.

“It’s no different to the past, it’s always been a marathon,” Hamilton said during Thursday’s media day ahead of the first of back-to-back races in Austria.

“It’s still a marathon, it’s still a lot of races. However it is squeezed and condensed into a shorter period of time.

“It definitely isn’t a normal experience for us, and we are all under a different set of pressures and circumstances but I think it’s great that we are work and the business can continue.”

Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas echoed Hamilton’s comments and reckons drivers will still be “attacking” each grand prix with the same level of intensity as in previous seasons.

“It’s going to be less races than planned and the least races I’ve ever had in an F1 season but just in a shorter time,” Bottas explained.

“I don’t think that approach is different when you look at it from a driver’s point of view. We are still going to be attacking every single weekend, trying to be on top of our game.

“The learnings you make with the new car, you need to be more reactive as a team and efficient on the direction you take with the car. We still have a lot to learn and we need to do it quick, but otherwise it’s the same approach.”

While the Red Bull Ring has not proved to be a happy hunting ground for Mercedes in the last two years, Bottas has a strong record at the Spielberg circuit.

Asked by Crash.net if he was confident of making a strong start to the season with two races in Austria, Bottas replied: “I like this track, so I was pretty happy when I heard we were going to have two races here.

“It’s tricky to say anything from the past, and it’s a new season after a long break, but I feel I’ve had a good preparation within myself and the team, so that’s why I do feel confident.

“It doesn’t help saying much more than that at this point because very soon we will see where we are as a team and also for me on paper.”