WHY HAMILTON IS READY TO GO
The on-off saga of Lewis Hamilton’s protracted contract negotiations has finally come to an end as the seven-time Formula 1 world-beater has committed his future – in the short term at least – to the Mercedes team. There was no brinksmanship as has been reported elsewhere, and there wasn’t any real question of Hamilton not renewing his deal. The only option left to him, with the lack of top-line drives available elsewhere, would have been to take a sabbatical. That was highly unlikely and it would also be hard to see how motivated the Briton would be to come back to the pressure-cooker environment of grand prix racing after 12 months away. He wasn’t going to turn his back on the opportunity to become the most successful driver of all time in terms of titles won.
He has no right to a world title and he will pitch into battle again against Red Bull and Ferrari et al as he chases that momentous crown. His desire to win has never been stronger.
It was almost lost in the glitz and celebrations of his seventh world crown in Turkey last year, but his performance in Istanbul surely has to go down as one of the greatest grand prix drives of all time. If there was ever a race that threw everything at the competitors, it was there. Rain, the porous new surface, the perfectly judged application of throttle on the ice-rink like Tarmac and the on-the-money strategy calls from both the driver and the team were at their sublime best.
The hunger to win runs deep – but for how much longer? Mercedes Formula 1 head Toto Wolff says that while Hamilton is more than capable of racing on into 2022 and beyond, there is no pressure from either side and no firm commitment at this stage. Amen to that, and Hamilton has earned the right to stop when he wants.
In MN this week, our Q&A incumbent is Ben Collins. He was an up-and-coming racer in the late-1990s who, like so many of his adversaries, never quite got the breaks he needed. He branched out and ended up becoming Top Gear’s Stig – a role that made him famous, even though his identity was hidden. He reflects on his career.
Graham Keilloh looks at the history of the Rockingham track in Northamptonshire which, 20 years ago, achieved the seemingly impossible by bring the jaw-dropping oval speeds of Champ Cars to these shores. We also investigate the ambitious Excelr8 British Touring Car Championship programme. Also, Luke Barry tells us what we missed in UK rallying due to the 2020 lockdown that decimated the discipline.