SINGAPORE — Lewis Hamilton said it was “overwhelming” to receive the level of support he did after the death of his dog, Roscoe, this week.
Hamilton announced Roscoe’s death, who was 13, on Monday, posting on social media: “Lost my best friend last night. Thank you all for the love you’ve shown him over the years. Roscoe forever.”
Roscoe had become a star of F1 social media since being adopted by the Englishman in 2013. The news was met by an outpouring of support from rival teams and fans across the world.
“”Yeah, lots of messages,” Hamilton said ahead of Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix. “Quite overwhelming to be honest to see just how many people Roscoe touched around the world and really heartwarming to receive.
“I’ve not been able to reply to everybody, but it was the most important thing in my life, so it was a very difficult experience. I know so many people in the world have gone through it and know what it’s like to have a pet that gives you such amazing love and it’s an amazing experience.
“But I’m really just looking forward to now just getting back in the car and doing what I love doing here.”
Hamilton arrives at the Singapore Grand Prix with an underwhelming run of results behind him. Much of the hype around his big move to Ferrari this year has fizzled out, with no grand prix podiums to his name so far — he won the sprint ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix in April.
Hamilton was asked Thursday if he was driving with a result for Roscoe in mind, but the seven-time world champion pointed out he has plenty of people at Ferrari he owes a result to as well as all of those who sent messages of support.
“I think there’s a lot of people that deserve a good result from my side and this team. The tifosi and the people that have been following me and all the people that have been checking in and been so supportive over this past whole year but also this past week.
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“I think it’s in moments like that where you really see people show up for you and that’s been, as I said, really overwhelming to see and really well welcomed.”
On his chances this weekend, Hamilton said: “It’s difficult to say because this will be the first time driving a Ferrari around Singapore.
“But the car felt really great starting the last grand prix and we just didn’t carry that through the weekend. But as I said there’s been learnings as to why that was and so I think we’ll have a better approach this weekend. And obviously the last week I’ve not had as much time as I’d like with the team but I know they’ve been working very hard back at the factory.
“And we’ve caught up over the last couple of days so I’m feeling optimistic of getting in. I have no clue how quick the others are going to be. They’re obviously going to be fast, the Red Bulls very quick and as is the McLarens and Mercedes also.
“So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
