Lewis Hamilton under “pretty terrible” pressure as Franchitti gives advice on retirement | F1 | Sports

Four-time Indycar champion Dario Franchitti has praised Lewis Hamilton’s tenacity, especially given the “terrible” pressure he’s under to become the most decorated driver in F1 history and stay at the top of his game

Franchitti, who retired from racing after a serious accident during the 2013 Houston Grand Prix, is also a three-time winner of the Indy 500 and the Daytona 24 Hours – and believes motivation will be the key that unlocks the race in the moment which the seven-time world champion is retiring.

Speaking exclusively to Express Sport during the Formula E Matrix weekend in Monaco, the Scot said: “It’s not difficult, but the hardest thing would be to keep motivation and that is what he seems to have.”

“You know, there was that time when he was doing all these other things and people were like, oh – he’s not focused or whatever.

“He doesn’t seem to mind how he can live his life, he gets results with what he does in his life, off the track, on the track, so fair game for him.

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“And as long as he wants to do it, why not? Why wouldn’t you. It is his decision to ultimately make, he has earned the right to decide when to step down and what to do afterwards.”

Hamilton, who has just achieved three-digit pole positions as the first F1 driver, wants to overtake Michael Schumacher in the record books and become eight-time world champion alongside Mercedes.

But Franchitti said the pressure to stay at his peak performance levels will be enormous.

“I think the problem is that in any of these sports the pressure at the highest level is pretty horrendous, time pressure – all that stuff,” the 47-year-old continued.

“It’s a pleasure, and I think you realize when you step away from it, it’s a pleasure, but at the time you’re just under constant pressure, constant control, all that stuff – and Lewis maybe more than anyone . “

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“But I would say that at Indycar there was also a danger factor for the oval for me, and that always played a role in my decision when I decided whether I would stay another year, and my decision was taken from me too . ” by accident, but for Lewis I think when motivation and joy go, he will just do something different and have fun, I think.

“I’ve won four in a row and the motivation is, you know, and I was a little older, what was I? 35? Hamilton is 36 so it can be difficult.

“It can, but every person is different and Lewis is his own person. When I was about to quit, I could feel my motivation dropping. He’s clearly not lacking in motivation, he certainly isn’t lacking in speed and talent. “

Meanwhile, the Scottish compatriot and three-time Le Mans winner, now Audi Formula E team principal Allan McNish, agreed to Franchitti, stating that Hamilton will get out when the fun stops.

“With Lewis and Mercedes they know what it takes to win,” said McNish, speaking exclusively to Express Sport.

“But even if you are consistently winning it will be harder to keep up, partly because of the motivation and partly because everyone else is more motivated to knock you off the top.”

“But on the other hand, Red Bull knows how to win. But Max [Verstappen] has never had such an experience and he has not yet had a World Cup success.

“And so I think if you get to the end of the season, not now, because in reality this is building for the end of the season, at the end of the season, then it comes out, the last couple of races that really put the pressure on .

“What I’ve seen is that Max Verstappen is pretty good at holding pressure. It’s not something that trips him up very often.

“And Lewis, we know he’s fine, he’s a street fighter and just keeps going to the end.”