Lewis Hamilton: ‘I want to win’

Lewis Hamilton said his desire to win will be the decisive factor in where he drives next season.

Heading into this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton has been at the centre of speculation that he will leave McLaren at the end of the season and move to Mercedes.

Hamilton declined to comment specifically on his future Thursday but said “I want to win. You always want to win, that’s why most drivers exist and that’s why teams exist.”

“I don’t have a deadline, but obviously I need to decide before the end of the season,” he said.

“I’m in a great position and I need to focus on preparing for these races. There’s a long way to go before the end of the season. Jenson and I have shown there’s good potential in the cars and the team, so that’s what I’m focusing on.”

Turbulent time

McLaren is currently second in the constructors’ championship, having won the past two races. Mercedes trails by 106 points after just one win this season.

“Mercedes and Ferrari are on one level in terms of history,” Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg said.

“To drive the silver arrow is something special for any driver.”

Hamilton had a turbulent time at the Belgian GP last weekend. His race was ended after a wild multi-car accident caused by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean not long after the start, and he also got into trouble for posting sensitive data on Twitter.

He is hoping to put all that behind him at Monza.

“The head of the PR department asked me to take the picture off, so I did,” Hamilton said.

“We’ve moved on from it and it won’t happen again. I just want to focus on this weekend’s race now.

“Jenson drove fantastically well in the last race and showed we are very competitive, and we should have a similar performance this weekend. I’m looking to pick up the pieces and get back to racing. We’ve done a lot of work, a lot of analysing for this weekend … so it will be nice to get into the race.”