Lewis Hamilton 'reminding people who I am' with back-to-back F1 podiums

Lewis Hamilton believes he is ‘reminding people who I am’ with consecutive Formula 1 podiums in Canada and Monaco after a difficult few years.

Hamilton is in the top two of the championship standings for the first time since the infamous 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having finished second to Kimi Antonelli in the last two races.

Such has been the lean period experienced by the seven-time champion that questions had been raised about his future, with his debut season with Ferrari last term failing to match the initial hype.

“It feels amazing to be up here, and it’s such a privilege to still be here, to be driving for Ferrari, to still be one of the 22 drivers in this sport,” said Hamilton

“And in front of all these people, it’s such an incredible experience and something that I genuinely love.

“I’m grateful to have moved forward, because we started third, so to get to second is awesome to have two seconds. Especially, I think with a good race in Montreal, and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, but he’s quick there’. I feel like I’m in a period where I’m having to remind people who I am. My fans last year were telling me to remind me of who I am, and now I’m having to show up each weekend and try to do that.

“I think it’s great to see that it’s a rejuvenated love in the team, and their belief also in me and the decision in hiring me. So I’m very happy.”

Hamilton was among a large number of drivers penalised for speeding in the pit lane, but like George Russell and both Alpine drivers, Ferrari man doesn’t believe he did anything wrong.

“I wasn’t speeding,” he said. “I think it’s just the way the pit lane is. I’ve done this pit lane for years.

“It’s not like I came in and didn’t press the button or something like that. The pit limiter is on immediately, and it’s just the line that you take, which is the same line that we’ve all taken for years, where you cut part of the white line.

“Head down, I went out and was shocked to hear that I was speeding, because I wasn’t actually above the speed limit. I think it’s all about the distance, and that’s something that we really need to look into, because I heard lots of people got that today, and they weren’t probably speeding.

“Probably having to do a stop and wait for five-ten seconds, whatever people got, it destroys you on a track so short as well. So I’m thankful that it didn’t impede me too much.”