Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Hamilton 'a lot closer to 100%' after fever, crash

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Lewis Hamilton says he is feeling "a lot closer to 100%" after falling ill ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver delayed his arrival in Sao Paulo on medical advice as a result of a fever earlier this week, while he was also crashed his car in Monaco on Monday night. Following the eventful build-up, Hamilton was present in Interlagos to face the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of a race he has never won.

Asked how he was feeling, Hamilton - who would not field questions on the Monaco accident - replied: "I feel good.

"I’m on an up slope, so a lot closer to 100%."

And the triple world champion says his work commitments in Mexico following his title victory in Austin had led to him becoming run down.

"I’d gone to Mexico on the Wednesday and we worked all day Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and then I had my mum’s party and that killed me! That was pretty amazing but I really felt it on Sunday and Monday."

Asked if he could be looking forward to the end of the season to recharge his batteries, Hamilton replied: "No, I’m excited to be here because this is a race that Ayrton [Senna] struggled at for some time before he got his win and a race that I have not yet won out of all the attempts that I’ve had.

"I’m really excited to be here and I’m glad that we still have races to go. The end of the season comes and then you have a long, long wait until you get back in the car, so I’m definitely cherishing the moments I do get in the car.

"I’m not as excited for the break as usual and I don’t know why, but I’ll be busy and things that I still plan to do. I’m looking forward to the training season, that’s for sure, because I’ve definitely put on a bit of weight over the last couple of months."

Click here for Eric Silbermann's Brazilian grumpy preview

Click here for Chris Medland's Brazilian Grand Prix preview

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.