Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has expressed that he is in the best shape of his life after a different kind of summer break ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix this Sunday.
The seven-time Formula One world champion said he had spent the summer break training not partying, a different routine from his usual holiday.
The 41-year-old sits 50 points behind current championship leader Kimi Antonelli but said his Ferrari was in a “sweet spot” that gave him hope of being able to close the gap.
“This has been the most different summer break that I’ve ever had in all of my championship seasons.
“Previous summer breaks involved a week or two off “with a bit of partying and stuff,” Hamilton said.
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But this year was different. “I took this as an opportunity to really level up. So I trained for three weeks.”
“I come back the fittest I’ve ever come back in summer in the 20 years or whatever that I’ve been here,” he warned his rivals.
Following a frustrating start to his career at Ferrari, he had suggested the team should find another driver and that he was “useless”.
One year on, he said what had changed his outlook was that the team was moving in the right direction and the changes he had demanded had been implemented.
“I think we’re in a real sweet spot. We’re just going to continue to build on this foundation that we’ve built,” he said.
Further driving Hamilton on is the fact he has never won at Zandvoort in his long F1 career. This will be his last chance, as the Dutch Grand Prix is being removed from the calendar after this season.
“I’ve won at pretty much all the other tracks. So I definitely want to change that. So massively driven, it’s just such an incredible circuit,” he told reporters.
Other big news came in the shape of four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen signing a new contract with Red Bull until the end of 2030.
“Four more years of full send. We are delighted to announce that Max has signed a contract extension with the team until the end of 2030,” Red Bull said on X, formerly Twitter.
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The news came with preparations in full swing for Verstappen’s home race, the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, and will delight his thousands of orange-clad fans.
Verstappen is one of the most successful Formula One drivers of all time, dominating the sport with four consecutive world championships from 2021.