Hamilton feels 'fitter than ever' in hunt for eighth F1 world title

Hamilton moved to just eight points behind title rival Max Verstappen after winning the Qatar Grand Prix last time out.

With Hamilton winning the last two consecutive races, the momentum is on his side with the high-speed Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia expected to play into Mercedes’ strengths. 

After suffering from coronavirus at the end of 2020, Hamilton feels that he’s back to his physical best.

“It feels good,” Hamilton said after his win at the Losail International City. “I am really, really happy with the car. I feel fit, fitter than I ever felt so that’s a positive. 

“A big, big thanks to Ange [Angela Cullen], she’s helping me train and keeping me on my toes, recovery has been great so bring on the next two!”

Hamilton admitted later on that at the beginning of the season he didn’t feel particularly well, hinting at the lingering effects of coronavirus.

“As I said, I feel great,” he added. “I feel in the best shape physically that I’ve been in all year. 

“So just feel… obviously at the beginning, not particularly that well, so yeah, I feel great, the car is feeling better than ever, and I feel positive going into these next couple of races. I think they should be quite good for our car, so I'm looking forward to that battle.”

Mercedes’ trackside engineering chief Andrew Shovlin heaped praise on Hamilton for his run of performances, particularly at Interlagos.

“I think Brazil was the best race I’ve ever seen him race, qualifying that lap was unbelievable when you think how close red bull have been to us, today he had the race under control start to finish so he actually didn’t have to work as hard as we thought we might have had to,” Shovlin explained. 

“But Lewis knows what needs to be done to win these championships, the team knows what needs to be done, and we’re all just getting on and doing it. But having him in the car is just a huge boost to our confidence.”