Hamilton brings woema to F1
AFTER winning his fourth Formula One world title earlier this week, Lewis Hamilton declared he’s hungry for more and won’t take the “easy” road of quitting the sport like his former team-mate Nico Rosberg did after winning last year’s championship.
The dig at Rosberg says a lot about Hamilton’s preoccupation with being considered one of Formula One’s greats, alongside the likes of his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna, and Michael Schumacher.
Beating your team-mate is the first order of business. That Rosberg got the better of him in an equal car still clearly rankles Hamilton, as it takes some shine off the legend-building.
On and off the track, Hamilton has brought glamour to the sport. His girlfriends and dress sense have also generated traffic on social media. He is not afraid to speak his mind, and on top of all this, he cares about his fans. He is quick to thank them after races and earlier this year announced he was running a competition for his fans to design his 2017 helmet. Can you think of another F1 world champion who has done that?
At 32 he’s young enough to break all of the records if he remains in a competitive car, and thus far he’s displayed a keen ability to read the field. After winning the title with McLaren in 2008 his move to Mercedes in 2013 was perfectly timed as the German team was about to become F1’s dominant force.
After three successive years of unchallenged Mercedes supremacy from 2014 to 2016, this season was a much closer inter-team contest against Vettel in a resurgent Ferrari. Hamilton and Vettel both produced champion-worthy performances, and overshadowed their team-mates to turn this season into a two-man contest.
In the end Hamilton had better reliability and luck, scoring points in every race while Vettel had two retirements, but it was a title well deserved nonetheless and Hamilton barely put a foot wrong.
Whether or not he goes on to win more championships and break more records, Formula One is richer for his presence. Like or hate him, he’s one of the fastest and most exciting racers of his generation.