History beckons for Lewis Hamilton
● Lewis Hamilton’s rivals are unlikely to get too excited at the British Grand Prix today. The only thing hotter than the weather at the moment is the UK driver’s odds of picking up a third win on the spin this weekend. Even the most generous bookmakers have installed Hamilton as a 2-1 odds-on favourite.
Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, almost scoffed when asked whether his drivers could match Mercedes’ searing pace at Silverstone. “They’re setting a very high benchmark at the moment,” he mumbled from behind his face mask.
If Red Bull cannot catch Mercedes, no one can. But they’ve been having their own struggles during practice sessions. Having brought Daniel Ricciardo’s former engineer, Simon Rennie, back to the race team to try to help out the inexperienced Alex Albon, the team could only watch as the Anglo-Thai driver lost control of his car mid-corner and spun into a tyre wall during second free practice.
But it would be a story if Nico Hulkenberg could win today. The German was headed to the Nurburgring at 4.30pm on Thursday afternoon when he got a call from his former employers telling him to fly to England.
Never on the podium
The 32-year-old ended up going to bed at 2am on Friday after a seat fitting at Racing Point’s factory. He got up at 8am for an hour in the simulator and “a bit of prep work”. Hulkenberg has never finished on the podium in 177 grands prix, and he may never have a better chance.
They will all have their work cut out catching Hamilton though. There are many who feel his dominance has gone too far; that F1 needs more competition.
He knows it himself. But it is not Hamilton’s fault that Ferrari have botched their car again, or that McLaren are still fighting their way back through the grid, or that Red Bull are struggling with aerodynamic instability.
He can only beat what is in front of him, and at the moment what is in front of him is Michael Schumacher’s race wins and drivers’ titles records. Hamilton needs five more of the former to draw level with Schumacher on 91 race wins, a record many thought would stand forever when Schumacher retired for the first time in 2006.
If he gets them this season — and he is likely to, he will almost certainly claim a seventh drivers’ crown, which would draw him level with the German in the all-time drivers’ championship standings.
His record at this track, especially, is peerless. Six wins at Silverstone in his F1 career makes Hamilton the most successful driver in British Grand Prix history. He has won most races here since 2014, the exception being 2018, when he qualified on pole, was spun off the track by Kimi Raikkonen, and battled from last in the field to second.
Conditions are expected to be cooler over the weekend and do not bet against Hamilton making it seven British GP wins on the 70th anniversary of the race. History beckons, and he enjoys nothing more than making history. — © The Daily Telegraph, London