F1 | Hamilton: “If I had stayed at McLaren I would still have a title”

Lewis Hamilton seems to be the cover driver of this turbo-hybrid Formula One. The Englishman, who last season became world champion for the seventh time in his career, equaling Michael Schumacher, has built a unique partnership with Mercedes in recent years, thus amassing pole positions, victories and titles.

The standard bearer of the Star, however, is aware that without this combination he would not have written so many important pages in the history of the Circus, perhaps remaining stuck on that world championship title won in 2008 with McLaren.

"I've been with McLaren since I was 13, so it was my family – said Hamilton in an interview with Crowdstrike, Mercedes sponsor – I think McLaren had an incredible history, they had multiple championships, they were very successful and I felt like I wasn't necessarily helping to build something. It was already an illustrious team, it had already had all that success. When I joined this team (Mercedes), there weren't many trophies. She was growing up. I wanted to apply that knowledge to a team that hadn't had much success".

Hamilton then added: “I could have stayed there. In hindsight, if I had stayed I wouldn't have another championship to my name. I would still be a world champion once after 14 years. Things happen for a reason, one way or another. I'm really grateful that I took that step. I took that leap of faith. Thank you to people like Niki, rest your soul, Ross and Mercedes for truly believing in me".