WOKING, England — Lewis Hamilton refuses to be crushed or tormented by his pit lane crash in Montreal.
A stroll Tuesday in the Swiss mountains was all the Mercedes McLaren driver needed to banish memories of smashing into the rear of world champion Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari early in the Canadian Grand Prix, taking out both leaders.
He returned Wednesday to the team’s headquarters in southern England to focus on overcoming the resulting 10-position penalty on the French Grand Prix starting grid.
“We’ve got quite a few engineering meetings,” Hamilton said at the McLaren Technology Center in Woking. “I’ve just come from one now just trying to figure out where we can improve and where there’s time to.
“We want to win the world championship, so we’re all knuckling down and just keep on pushing forward.”
He doesn’t even rank Montreal as the worst blunder of his Formula One career.
“It was nowhere near any of my lowest points, I don’t even particularly feel it was a low point,” he said. “In the race I was on top of my game. It’s just one of those things you just have to come to terms with and move on.
“It’s in the past — I’ve forgotten about it already.”
Team boss Ron Dennis doesn’t blame his 23-year-old driver, insisting pit lane is a pressurized environment.
“It’s an accident you see often in the road and it’s an accident you will see again in Formula one,” Dennis told The Associated Press. “It almost seems to be a British failing that we build our heroes and then take delight in focusing on their efforts or mistakes that occasionally occur.
“We as a team — and certainly Lewis — are far too immune to that sort of thing. We’ve locked that part of this season away in our minds.”
The strong-willed Hamilton believes the Magny Cours handicap won’t prevent a podium finish June 22.
“For sure it’s going to be tough the next race,” he said. “We know that we’re sort of on the back foot already, but knowing the pace and momentum we had already from the last race just shows that anything can happen.
“I feel quite confident we can still win. I’ve got to — that’s my job.”
Robert Kubica took advantage of Hamilton’s error to claim his maiden victory in 29 career starts and BMW Sauber’s first.
“He’s always been a title contender from race one,” Hamilton said. “I’ve always known he’s got great talent, and he’s for sure going to be strong as long as BMW pull their socks up — and they have done. …
“There are three teams (including Ferrari) at the front really battling it out.”
Hamilton heads from France to his home race at Silverstone on July 6 and the British driver doesn’t want the showpiece race snatched away.
“The passion for racing in the UK is so strong,” he said. “If we didn’t have our own Grand Prix it would be pretty sad to be honest. It will be a real shame if we lost it.”
Hamilton was speaking at the launch of Go Motorsport, an initiative to boost racing’s appeal in Britain and breed a new generation of competitors, officials and fans.
He reminisced about being encouraged by 1996 world champion Damon Hill to persevere with the dream he had as a 10-year-old.
Hamilton now lives in Switzerland, a tax haven that also helps him avoid the media.
“Switzerland’s great, I get up early in the mornings and I’m able to go for a run down the street, down the lake or walk up the mountains as I did yesterday and go cycling up the mountains,” he said. “I’m generally left alone. …
“I walk down into the town without people walking up to me all the time. That’s something I really do enjoy.”
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