Hamilton is the greatest driver ever, says Lauda
WHILE Lewis Hamilton was busy posting a bawdy video of a Donald Trump doll and a dog, Niki Lauda drew on nearly half a century’s experience in Formula One to bestow the biggest accolade a triple world champion can.
‘Lewis,’ said Lauda of his famed Instagram devotee, ‘is now the greatest driver ever.’
Fangio, Moss, Stewart, Clark, Prost, Senna and Schumacher, to name a few of the legends who stand comparison in any company, would have their advocates. But Lauda, Mercedes’ non-executive chairman, told Sportsmail: ‘Lewis. Fast. Focused. No mistakes. Brilliant in the wet. Nobody better.’
Although Hamilton’s car struggled alarmingly for pace in practice for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the 32-year-old Briton is certainly in top form. He drove faultlessly in the wet in Singapore a fortnight ago to register his third successive win. But perhaps the highlight came at the start of the month with his pole lap at Monza — one of the best of his life.
Hamilton’s reward for consistent brilliance is a 28-point lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with six rounds, including this race, remaining. Success has oiled the dynamic within Mercedes.
Lauda revealed: ‘There is no problem with Lewis and the contract (which is due for renewal at the end of next season). It will happen. He is happy. We are happy.’ To underline the one-forall fraternity, Lauda added: ‘He has asked me if he can fly back from this race with me. We will try to make that happen. Everything is excellent.’
Not quite everything. Briefly appearing on Hamilton’s Instagram account was a curious video involving a blow-up Trump doll which was removed yesterday. Although its exact implication was unclear, the driver is avowedly anti-Trump and raised the prospect of staging an NFL-style protest at an F1 race.
In America, players have been kneeling during the national anthem to highlight cases of racial discrimination. Hamilton has put up a series of related Instagram posts in recent days, including one of Martin Luther King kneeling.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff reproached his man, saying: ‘Communicating this through Instagram is something he needs to rethink, but I can relate to his feelings.’
On the track, Mercedes concentrated on their lack of pace. Hamilton was only sixth fastest in the morning rain and in the same lowly position in the afternoon on a dry track. Vettel was quickest.
Wolff did not sugar-coat Mercedes’ lack of performance. ‘The stopwatch always tells the truth, and today’s lap time wasn’t fast enough,’ he said. ‘The car was unbalanced and that triggers a lot of consequences. It was one of the worst Fridays I can remember. We have 12 hours to sort it out.’
It was also a bruising day for Romain Grosjean, who went careering off track at great speed. His Haas caught a dislodged drain cover, exploding one of his back tyres. He was not badly hurt, but it was embarrassing for the Sepang circuit on its last outing as an F1 venue after 19 often eventful races.