Formula One: Hamilton reveals team switch torment

Hamilton says his mind swung back and forth ‘like a pendulum’ until he eventually settled on leaving McLaren.

SUZUKA: Lewis Hamilton revealed how he was mentally torn by his decision to switch teams before finally making up his mind. The 27-year-old former world champion said his mind swung back and forth ‘like a pendulum’ until he eventually settled on leaving McLaren, the team he had driven for since a teenager, for Mercedes. He described phoning McLaren, which he joined aged 13 under Ron Dennis, now the company chairman, as ‘the hardest call I have ever had to make’. “It was the hardest call I have ever had to make. It was just really, really emotional,” said Hamilton. “It was like a pendulum. One moment, I’d think ‘let’s go for it’ and the next I’d think ‘I’m going to stay’. Eventually, it became clear in my mind.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2012.