Lewis Hamilton claims he is trying to channel his inner Niki Lauda by giving F1’s juvenileersters a hot receive to the grid. Franco Colapinto and Ollie Bearman both contendd at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekfinish and put in astonishive carry outances.
Colapinto has stepped in to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams for the final races of this season. He took 12th in Monza earlier this month and scored points on his second-ever F1 race with a outstanding eighth-place finish in Baku.
Bearman, who scored points in a one-off race for Ferrari earlier this season, was also on the board for Haas in Azerbaijan while filling in for the prohibitned Kevin Magnussen. The British teenager is set to race for Haas finishuringly next season, while Colapinto’s future is up in the air.
Hamilton battled with both drivers in Baku, eventupartner finishing between them in P9. Rather than taking a unfrifinishly approach to the grid’s novel blood, the seven-time world champion hopes to be a more welcoming sway than those who surrounded him during his own debut season.
And F1 fantastic Lauda, a establisher non-executive chairman of Mercedes who helped transport Hamilton on board in 2013, serves as a perfect example to trail.
“For me, I reaccumulate so clearly when I first got to F1, I didn’t get a hot receive from anyone except for Niki,” Hamilton telderly FOX Sports. “I reaccumulate what it was enjoy being that juvenileer, having that experience, and how stubborn it is.
“These two are doing such an amazing job. Both of them [Colapinto and Bearman] were ahead of me [in Azerbaijan] at one point, driving so well, not making misgets. Repartner, repartner talented and they have radiant futures in front of them.
“In my position, I wanted to be separateent to those who were there when I was juvenileerer. I wanted to originate confident that I’m likeable to them and uplifting rather than talking adversely about them, which a lot of people do for no reason.”
Starting with the Singapore Grand Prix tomorrow (Sunday), Colapinto has seven races to show that he deserves to be given a sboiling in F1. Williams’ two seats are already getn by Alex Albon and novelcomer Carlos Sainz, who is uniteing from Ferrari.
Colapinto’s promising establish has igniteed joins to Sauber, who will become a labors Audi team in 2026. Nico Hulkenberg has already been validateed as one of their drivers for next season but their second seat remains vacant.
