For John Watson, Lewis Hamilton “needs to relax”

Definitely, Lewis Hamilton is the talk of the paddock. After Lauda, Stewart, Moss, and even Jody Scheckter, the latest driver to comment on the British driver’s behavior is John Watson, former McLaren team driver.

« Lewis is a prodigious driver, but his burning desire for victory affects his balance, and he is sometimes too aggressive, » claims the driver and five-time Grand Prix winner in the Daily Express. « I want to see drivers attack, but I don’t want to see a guy’s frustration override his judgment. Lewis has vented this frustration with his recent comments and in the way he reacted to the criticisms from Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda about his driving in Monaco and Canada. Motorsport may be different from what it was in their time, but they are both triple world champions. »

John Watson also expressed his astonishment at seeing the McLaren driver blame his team after a British Grand Prix marked by a mistake in tire choice during qualifications and an overconsumption issue during the race. I was really surprised that Lewis chose to blame the team. The decision to use new tires should have been discussed between him and his engineers. If your teammate and everyone around you go out on new tires, then going out on used tires was clearly a mistake. But these criticisms show the level of frustration Lewis is feeling at the moment. He is clearly furious about not being more competitive, but Red Bull has a better car.

The Belfast native, however, asserts that Lewis Hamilton must not give in to frustration. He needs to take a deep breath and relax. He should tell the team: “We need to work together to make things right.”

Shortly before the race held at Silverstone, Martin Whitmarsh echoed Watson’s remarks. « I have known Lewis since he was 11. He is quite hard on himself when he makes mistakes and he is very passionate about everything, not just in his driving style. He definitely doesn’t like to be beaten, so it has been a rather difficult season so far. I know that Lewis is strong enough and capable of getting through it, staying focused, developing the car, and winning races, and then people will forget. »

For the Team Principal of the Woking team, the Briton is also a victim of the media and talked about a snowball effect regarding the criticism his driver has been facing for weeks: He knows he has made mistakes, but he is under special scrutiny. When you are watched this closely and you get out of your car sweaty and frustrated, let’s be honest, some media are very friendly and understanding, but others, when they see such vulnerability, […] want to provoke and extract a passionate response that is good for making headlines and not always in Lewis’s favor.

And Whitmarsh reminds us that the British driver has only been in Formula One for four years and therefore still has many lessons to learn from his experiences, whether positive or negative. He learns that sometimes it’s better to hold back, keep his tongue in check, and not say what he thinks. We know how it works. You do an interview where you stay calm, then comes a second and a third interview, your emotions rise more and more, and eventually, you say something you regret. That’s what happened to Lewis this year.