Lewis Hamilton said it was “amazing” to have girlfriend Kim Kardashian by his side as he celebrated another strong Ferrari result. For the second race weekend in a row, Hamilton finished a Grand Prix second behind only championship leader Kimi Antonelli – securing his third podium visit of the season.
And he did it in front of Kim, who was present at a Formula 1 race for the first time since they struck up a relationship over the winter. Kardashian was on the grid before the Grand Prix and watched the action from the balcony above the Ferrari garage alongside sister Khloe, before joining Ferrari staff below the podium to see her boyfriend spray the celebratory champagne.
Hamilton has been reluctant to speak about their relationship in the F1 paddock. That’s despite the pair of them having been spotted together in public many times in recent months, including trips to the Coachella music festival and also a handful of romantic getaways on non-race weekends.
But he broke his silence after Sunday’s podium ceremony, during which he was seen blowing a kiss to his partner. He said of the American reality TV star: “It’s amazing to have her come this weekend and to have that support. It’s amazing to have good people around you, good people supporting you, and she does that for me every day.”
Kardashian’s presence caused a stir in the paddock and a clamour for people to get photos of her as she walked around. And she also ignored Martin Brundle on the pre-race grid walk when the Sky Sports analyst made a polite approach, only to be waved away by her security detail.
But it was nothing but a positive day for Hamilton who inherited second place when Max Verstappen suffered an engine issue on the start line and survived a chaotic race to bring his Ferrari home. “I think we’ve been progressing over the last few months,” the delighted seven-time world champion declared.
“We can’t quite keep up with [Mercedes] just yet, and it’s probably going to take a lot of work to get to their level, but to get another second place is such a great feeling. Especially in Monaco, under the trickiest conditions, it was the hardest conditions out there. We’ve had such a great turnout today as well. I’ll definitely take it.
“I’m very, very thankful to my team because, coming from such a horrendous year last year, I’m finally in a position where I’m reigniting the passion and the belief they had in me when I first joined. After a really big slump last year, to come back up, it’s great to see the fight in them. They’ve done a fantastic job. We’ve got a lot of work to try to close that gap, though.”