Why Lewis Hamilton didn’t fully ‘enjoy’ winning his first F1 championship with McLaren

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Lewis Hamilton is approaching the end of his Formula 1 career and is having a bit of a difficult time at Ferrari.

But, once there was a time when things were much simpler, and he was in contention for the drivers’ championship almost every year.

Hamilton delivered the greatest rookie campaign in history with McLaren in 2007, falling one point shy of a title in his first season.

In 2008, he redeemed himself with a breathtaking final lap overtake to claim top honours at Sao Paulo. It was one of the most exciting moments in Formula 1 history.

Just months later, Hamilton nearly ‘exploded like a volcano’ when McLaren turned up in 2009 with a very poor car.

In fact, Hamilton called the 2009 McLaren ‘awful’ and one of the most difficult periods of his career. At such a young age, it was a testing time for him.

READ MORE: Formula 1 once considered an ‘astonishing’ rule change that would have made Lewis Hamilton an eight-time champion

Lewis Hamilton admitted he wasn’t mature enough to ‘enjoy’ winning the 2008 F1 title

Hamilton’s 2008 season was an impressive performance for a driver in his second season, as he completely overshadowed teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

He took five victories, but would actually end up scoring 11 points fewer than the season prior. An unfortunate disqualification in Belgium didn’t help his cause.

Reflecting on his 2008 season in 2016, Hamilton revealed how he didn’t think that he was ready to ‘enjoy’ the feat, because he still had some maturing to do.

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“I think just at the time, after that big whirlwind of media,” he told Fiona Bruce at Zeitgeist 16. “Back at the factory, there was so much attention.

“I was only 23, so I just don’t feel I was, don’t forget, you know, growing up, instead of hanging out with friends on the weekends and doing normal kids social life stuff, I was racing with adults.

“I missed that a lot, that maturity growing up stage. I don’t feel I was mature enough to really be able to embrace the whole experience and enjoy it.”

READ MORE: Five worst moments of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career including Chinese GP woe and Italian GP disaster

Why Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 Formula 1 title was such a special moment

Not only were the circumstances of Hamilton’s first title sensational, with a last-gasp overtake to steal the crown from home favourite Felipe Massa, but it also meant that Britain had a winner once more.

This side of the millennium, he was the first British driver to be crowned champion, with Damon Hill being the last one (1996) at the time.

Driving for a British team, too, it was a very proud moment. They had just beaten Italy’s sweetheart (Ferrari) to return to the top, after years of watching Michael Schumacher dominate.

In similar fashion, Lando Norris has just claimed McLaren’s first drivers’ title since Hamilton’s in 2008, and did so by a similar margin (two points) to the infamous Max Verstappen.

Norris is a few years older than Hamilton was and is far more experienced, so he should be able to enjoy it a bit more.