Brawn hails ‘surreal’ champ

FORMULA 1

Lewis Hamilton’s off-track endeavours have taught Formula 1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn “a lesson” in how an elite driver must behave.

Hamilton clinched a fifth world championship in 2018, a year in which he launched his own clothing line in collaboration with major US brand

Tommy Hilfiger. The Briton has been criticised at times for his off-track exploits, but he has always contested that they have helped him to find happiness and keep his motivation high.

“I’ve got a lesson from this,” said Brawn. “I probably had a traditional view of racing drivers that they probably should follow a certain lifestyle when they are out of the car to maximise the performance in the car.

“It is underestimated what Lewis does outside the car in respect to his fitness and his training and his preparation. That doesn’t tend to be highlighted. He has a passion to travel around the world for pop events, music events or fashion shows. That’s unique and I think his success told everyone that you can do these things and still achieve. If somebody hadn’t been successful and he was conducting this lifestyle, that would be said to be the reason why they are not successful – because you are so used to a more conservative approach.”

Hamilton dovetailed a jam-packed personal schedule in 2018 with his joint-most successful year in F1, despite Mercedes’ increased competition from Ferrari and Red Bull. He claimed 11 wins and 11 pole positions, and Brawn says one of those qualifying performances – an unexpected pole in Singapore – was an example of Hamilton doing what the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher have done before.

“Sometimes you get a driver who finds the performance you just don’t expect,” said Brawn. “There are a couple of occasions, particularly in qualifying, when Lewis did that. He just took people’s breath away. Everyone thinks they are the references and suddenly the driver does something that changes the reference.

“I was fortunate to see that sometimes in Michael Schumacher. We saw drivers like Ayrton Senna. I think we saw this on a couple of occasions with Lewis [in 2018]. Singapore was quite exceptional. He did it in Abu Dhabi again. Those are the things you remember because, as an engineer, you must work out where it’s come from. It’s like a surreal level they reached – that’s very special when you see a driver do that.”