End of season slump a blessing in disguise – Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has called his end of season slump a “blessing in disguise”, despite failing to secure pole position in any of the last six races and failing to win the final three.

It was team-mate Nico Rosberg that came out on top, albeit only after the title had been decided, but that has given Hamilton greater determination knowing he must up his game, rather than heading into the winter believing he was comfortably quicker.

“I actually look at the last three races as a blessing in disguise,” said the Briton on Saturday. “It’s kind of – if I’d have won the last three races, that would’ve been quite a lot of races won in the season. And perhaps I would have gone into next season with less of a buzz.

“But I actually have great determination, a great drive right now and I think that’s come from having those results. In that sense, it’s been a good thing.”

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Discussing why he believes Rosberg had the upperhand in the final few races, Hamilton couldn’t put his finger on an exact reason, believing many factors might have contributed.

“I’m sure it’s a combination of things,” he said. “Firstly, I don’t ever take away from the fact that Nico did an exceptional job in those last few races – even actually from Singapore he did an exceptional job in qualifying.

“I think the change in the car seemed to suit him very well. And, you know, when the championship was done, I didn’t let off – but I was subconsciously more relaxed, perhaps.”