"I’m willing to take any amount of pain to win": When Lewis Hamilton opened up on his hunger for success in F1

Seven-time world drivers' champion, Lewis Hamilton, spoke about the limits he's willing to go to be successful in Formula 1. The British driver, in an interview from 2017, was asked about his fears, to which he made it clear that he fears nothing and is capable of doing what's required to achieve winning when he races.

In a conversation with tennis star Serena Williams for Interview magazine, the then three-time champion was asked about any fears he has when it comes to racing. 32-year-old Lewis Hamilton said that he hasn't felt fear ever, including during his time racing at a young age. He even shared an anecdote about his father thinking he might not even be his son because of how fearless Hamilton has been doing anything when it comes to an adrenaline boost. Talking about the extent he would go to in order to win, the former Mercedes driver likened himself to the 23-time Grand Slam winner and told her:

"And when it comes to racing, it’s always about who is willing to go further, who is willing to take that extra step. I’m willing to take any amount of pain to win. I’m hungry like you."

However, Hamilton opened up on about his off-track fears, revealing:

"There are fears I have outside of racing, though, like spiders. When I’m in Australia, I check under the toilet seat. And more than anything, I fear not being as great as I know I can be."

At the end of the 2017 season, Lewis Hamilton scored nine wins and twenty-three podium finishes which helped him score a total of 363 points securing his fourth Drivers' Championship title and beginning a four-year title-winning streak.

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Lewis Hamilton explains how his perspective towards winning shifted

Lewis Hamilton after winning the race at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, Great Britain, on July 7, 2024 - Source: Getty

In the aforementioned interview, the new Ferrari driver was also asked about the role that winning has played in his life. Lewis Hamilton said that while the primary objective was always to win, he gradually learned that failure was an important part of life.

Recalling how devastating a loss felt to him, Hamilton said:

"You know how it is—you’ve trained, you’ve made the mistakes before, you know how not to do it, and then you do it again, and you fail in such a spectacular way. The fall feels like it’s never-ending. It used to take me days to recover, literally. One time I didn’t leave my hotel room for four days, I was so stuck in my head."

But he went on to underline that as the years went by, he realized that winning wasn't the end game.

"But now, with maturity and age, I’ve realized that winning isn’t everything. It’s very much about the journey, particularly in my sport. There are so many people on my team, and I’ve got to be conscious of them. So while winning is definitely the ultimate goal, the lessons learned when I don’t win only strengthen me."

Lewis Hamilton's last championship win was in 2020, following which he had a runner-up finish in the standings in 2021, and a third place finish in 2023.

His seventh-place finishing position in 2024 has been his lowest career finish, but he scored two wins in his final year with Mercedes, breaking a two-year winless streak.