Lewis Hamilton 'grateful for Brazil GP experience' despite Mercedes’ horror show

Lewis Hamilton is grateful for this year's F1 Brazilian Grand Prix despite the horror show that went down for Mercedes in Sao Paulo.

It was a huge success for Mercedes when racing at Interlagos in the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix. George Russell won the first race of his career in the city of Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who had just received honorary citizenship from Brazil, secured a commanding second-place finish, making it a 1-2 finish for the Silver Arrows.

The German outfit were riding on a wave of confidence when heading to Brazil this season. Given Hamilton's encouraging form in recent weeks leading up to the Brazilian GP, expectations were high.

However, the results were polar opposites for Mercedes on November 5 at the Interlagos. George Russell could not even make it to the finish line. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton had to settle for an 8th-place finish.

However, the 38-year-old still remains 'grateful' for his Brazilian GP experience this season. In the press conference leading up to the 2023 Las Vegas GP, Hamilton said:

“Whilst [last year] it was a real big lift for the team, maybe it made us think that we were gonna be better moving on to [this] year so, I’m actually grateful for the experience cause the guys know that we are still not as closest as we’d like to think.”

He added:

“Meaning that we gotta work harder, and we just have to do a better job. We realise we got a steep mountain to climb.”

Mercedes had an 'amazing' year, according to Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time world champion was chasing a P2 finish at one point this season. While Sergio Perez's performance graph had taken a hit, Hamilton's was rising leading up to Brazil.

However, the result at Brazilian GP have now seemed to dashed any hopes of Hamilton securing the runner-up spot this season. Perez bagged crucial 12 points from the race, extending the gap between himself and Hamilton to 30 points.

When asked if he could still topple the Red Bull driver in the points standings, Hamilton said:

“He’s too far away now. 30 points in two races, he’d have to have two disasters and I’d have to be second, basically.”

However, Lewis Hamilton still has a positive outlook as the season draws to its end. He said:

“Honestly, it really doesn’t make any difference if I’m second or third. I think we’ve still had an amazing year, given the car that we’ve had. We never thought that we’d be fighting for second in the Constructors’ and knocking on the door of the most dominant car probably of our era.”

Lewis Hamilton will be back in action for Mercedes this weekend at the Las Vegas Street Circuit.