Mercedes F1 Insider reveals Lewis Hamilton’s driving force that will benefit Ferrari

Mercedes director of track engineering Andrew Shovlin has spoken about Lewis Hamilton’s fear of losing, which has been the driving force behind winning seven world titles throughout his Formula 1 career. Shovlin revealed that because of his “phobia of losing,” he has never shown as much commitment to any other driver as Hamilton. This quality of the Brit could also benefit Ferrari next season as he moves away from Mercedes after 12 years with them.

Shovlin worked closely with Hamilton during his successful F1 journey with the Brackley team, where he won six drivers’ and eight constructors’ titles. Despite holding the most championships alongside Michael Schumacher, Hamilton is still not satisfied and is determined to secure his eighth title with Ferrari. It is likely that the fear of losing his final crucial years in the premier class in Mercedes’ challenging car led him to take a leap of faith.

Shovlin spoke about this unique quality of Hamilton and explained to the New York Times what it was like to work with a multiple world champion:

“Well, there’s no other driver like him, so you could definitely say he’s unique from that point of view.”

“It’s great fun to work with him. He is committed to success, as are we all, and on a team you would ask that of everyone.”

“But Lewis has his own, it’s almost like a phobia of losing that drives his work ethic. And that’s great because when you have a driver who brings that to the team, they push endlessly and want to improve endlessly. And that brings an incredible amount of energy into the team.”

He added:

“He is the only driver that I can think of and that I have worked with where this is so noticeable. No good driver likes to lose, they all hate it. That’s absolute standard.”

“It’s the work and the worry that this creates in Lewis that I think sets her apart from most.”

Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur explained that his team had reached a crucial point where it needed Hamilton’s attention to detail and strengths to take the challenge to the next level, especially after narrowly winning the constructors’ championship this season by just 14 points Lost lead to McLaren. He said:

“We are in a situation where we are fighting for details in the midfield, the car in front of us is three hundredths of a second faster.

“At the end (2024) you are fighting for 14 points in the championship. It’s a loss in the season, a strategic decision or whatever – it means every single detail will make the difference.

“And Lewis brings tremendous experience, tremendous championship experience, the Mercedes background or, let’s say, confidence, and that will help the team continue to grow and improve step by step.”