Hamilton reveals 'pain' life lesson during F1 win drought

Lewis Hamilton has spoken about what he learned during his 56-race winless streak in F1, which he broke at this year's British Grand Prix.

That victory at Silverstone was the 39-year-old's first in 945 days - some 31 months - and prevented a third consecutively F1 season without reaching the top step of the podium.

Whilst the Mercedes driver was able to follow-up on that triumph two rounds later, at Spa-Francorchamps, the home grand prix win was a significant moment for him.

Hamilton has been open about the mental difficulties he faced in trying to return to the summit of F1, and further expanded on what he has learned about life, and himself, during the challenging period.

"It’s been mostly a battle of the mind," the 105-time grand prix winner told Esquire.

"Keeping yourself sane, trying to pick up new tools. Ultimately, it always comes back to persistence and dedication. Hard work. It always does eventually pay off."

The previous two seasons were the first and only times in the Briton's 18-year F1 career he has failed to win a grand prix.

Having experienced an unprecedented run of success together, winning eight constructors' titles on the bounce, Mercedes and Hamilton struggled to acclimatise to the contemporary ground-effects era.

When the new regulations were introduced in 2022, it look the team over a year to move away from its failed 'zeropod' aerodynamic concept.

During that period, Hamilton took a more investigatory role, trying to establish the root of Mercedes' issues, whilst George Russell found his feet in the team. He would claim his maiden grand prix victory towards the end of that torrid first year.

It is a process that the seven-time drivers' champion feels has made him a better team-mate, but the most noteworthy lesson Hamilton has learned during the period is about how enduring pain, and how much you can withstand whilst still taking steps in the right direction.

"I think I learned that life is really about how much pain you can experience and keep going, and how much you can suffer and keep moving forward, you know? And that’s life, right? It’s not how you fall; it’s how you get up," he explained.

"It’s how you continue to apply yourself every single day. It’s how you connect with people that you work with. 

"I probably learned to be a better teammate in this period of time, because we’ve had more time to focus on communication."