“IF YOU THINK WHAT YOU SAW AT THE END OF LAST YEAR WAS MY BEST, WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THIS YEAR”
Lewis Hamilton invariably finds his finest form in the face of adversity. And in the wake of his championship defeat, he’s in fighting spirit
The 2021 Formula 1 season was the best in a decade, and the best driving of the campaign came from the controversially defeated title contender. Lewis Hamilton’s response to being disqualified from qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was tremendous. He gained 25 positions in one and a half races, going from the back of the Interlagos sprint grid to the GP victory, even with a second grid drop undoing a chunk of his progress from the first race. Yes, the fresh engine punch that his penalty bought was a help, but Hamilton still needed to pull off pass after pass – and find a way ahead of his fierce title rival.
He did it, eventually, after Max Verstappen’s unacceptable initial defence, and then went on a dominant run that would have yielded a season-closing victory hat-trick and the 2021 title had it not been for the Abu Dhabi finale shambles. In Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff’s words, the Brazilian DQ had“woken up the lion”inside.
Now we know how Hamilton is responding to his Abu Dhabi heartbreak. In short, he is heading into the 2022 F1 season in fighting spirit. But that late-2021 form boost is far from the only example in Hamilton’s career of the now-37-year-old turning adversity into almost sensational success. Think the 2006 Turkey GP2 sprint race, and the 17 passes he pulled off to finish second after spinning down to 19th. His famous Silverstone 2008 wet win – his first in F1 on home soil – two races after clattering Kimi Raikkonen in the closed Montreal pitlane. The five victories en route to his first Mercedes title that followed contact with Nico Rosberg at Spa in 2014, which gave Hamilton a puncture and a later DNF. The way he raised his game overall following his defeat to Rosberg in the 2016 title fight.
That last example is particularly important in early 2022.
Five years ago, Hamilton was reflecting on his first championship defeat in the turbo-hybrid era – against his only rival, who’d retired from across the Mercedes garage in the aftermath of his triumph, such were the extremes Rosberg had to reach to claim the crown. Although Hamilton had let himself down with some poor starts that year, the main takeaway from that championship was how unreliability could thwart his ambitions.
Hamilton’s response was to be better in every area. Mercedes insiders suggest he simply vowed to never leave anything on the table from his own performances for his rivals to gain in qualifying or races – he was painfully aware of how just six extra points would have helped after his engine expired in flames in Malaysia. At the same time, his clean racing mantra would go on to serve him well, as he generally
avoided needless spins and clashes that others did not.
Some of Hamilton’s best races followed his 2016 defeat. His passes on Sebastian Vettel at Barcelona and Austin in 2017 won him those events. He charged from 14th to win the rain-affected race at Hockenheim one year on, when Vettel’s title charge fell off the road, then at Monza later in 2018 he famously defeated the faster Ferrari pair on their home patch. Monaco 2019 followed Niki Lauda’s death; Spain 2020 came in the midst of the unfurling pandemic and Hamilton’s personally emotionally draining new drive to improve diversity in motorsport following the global Black Lives Matter protests. His Bahrain and Barcelona triumphs in 2021 came in Mercedes’rule-hobbled car.
It’s quite the list. And it, along with four more world titles, which came so close to being five in a row, demonstrates how much better Hamilton became after Rosberg’s championship – one that didn’t end in utter acrimony.
Speaking to reporters from Mercedes’ shake down after theW13’ s launch last Friday, Hamilton is facing the media for the first time since he qualified second for the Abu Dhabi GP. He“just unplugged and switched off”in the days following Verstappen’s controversial victory at the Yas Marina track. His social media channels stayed silent for 56 days, as Hamilton“took time to digest what had happened” during a“difficult time”. He didn’t watch a race replay – instead he went back through his own memories of the events that he called, in real time ,“manipulated ”.
Wolff’ s words explaining how Hamilton was left“disillusioned” by the way events in Abu Dhabi played out raised speculation that he could make a shock retirement – with a two-year contract still ahead. But Hamilton insists“i never, ever said that I was going to stop”.
Instead, he went through what is now an annual process of evaluating if he can continue to make the necessary sacrifices and effort to succeed at the top of global motorsport. But the regular question of
“do you believe that you can continue to punch at the weight that you’re punching?”did have an extra consideration this time – could he trust F1’s system given how badly it had just let him down?
“Ultimately this is a sport that I’ve loved my whole life,”he says. “There was a moment where I obviously lost a little bit of faith in the system. But I’m generally a very determined person. And I like to think to myself,‘while moments like this might define careers, I refuse to let this define mine.’and so, I’m focused on being the best I can be and coming back stronger.
“I feel great. I feel fit. Naturally when you have an extra year of experience under your belt that always helps. I always feel like through these sorts of experiences, you can turn that emotion
into strength and into power. That’s what I’m doing. I’m putting that into my training. I’m putting that into my work that I have with the men and women here in this team.”
All of that is ominous for his on-track rivals given how good Hamilton already is. Wolff says that since returning to the team, his lead driver has been in“attack mode”.“he has come back in a great mindset,”wolff explains.“he is positive, he is determined. And yet again, adversity that was thrown at him will make him stronger.”
Both Wolff and Hamilton welcomed the FIA’S decision to reinforce its F1 race officiating for 2022, which includes Michael Masi’s removal from his post as F1 race director. Interpreting Hamilton’s words on this reform, where it is also clear that it will take time before he can fully trust the FIA again, we can assume that he was personally satisfied by that particular call.“while we can’t change the past, and nothing will ever really be able to change the way I felt at the time and how I feel about the situation, it is good to see that the FIA are taking steps to make improvements,”he explains.“i think accountability is key.
“And we have to use this moment to make sure that this never happens to anybody else in the sport ever again. We have to make sure that we keep a close eye on making sure that we actually are seeing those
“IT’S GOOD THAT THE FIA ARE TAKING STEPS TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS. ACCOUNTABILITY IS KEY”
changes, and rules are applied fairly and accurately and consistently.
“I put faith and trust alongside each other. Trust can obviously be lost in the blink of an eye or the flick of a finger. But to earn trust is something that is built over a long period of time. So, while I didn’t see that coming, [the FIA’S announcement of F1 race control reform] is perhaps a first step of that. But that doesn’t necessarily change everything just yet. We have to see actual action and I think it will take a bit of time. But I’m not really focused necessarily on that area at the moment. I’m just putting every ounce of my energy and time into making sure that I’m the best you’ve ever seen.”
And Hamilton thus enters F1’s new era – the third major rules overhaul (second for aerodynamics) that he has experienced so far. It’s his 10th season at Mercedes, alongside a third team-mate now, with George Russell earning a promotion from Williams.
The new cars make the present period both similar and yet different to 2017 and the aftermath of Rosberg’s title. Then, Hamilton was adjusting to the start of the generation of cars that will likely go down as F1’s fastest ever, with the rules then requiring downforce to be packed on. Valtteri Bottas had been thrust in to replace Rosberg.
But now Hamilton will have to adjust to the challenges of a groundeffect formula, and do so alongside a driver essentially hired to one day replace him as Mercedes’leading star.
“I have driven [the W13] in the simulator,”hamilton says, speaking before it’s his turn to shake down Mercedes’new machine in the totally unrepresentative conditions Storm Eunice is wreaking on Silverstone. “The car is so much different. It’s so different to any other car that I’ve driven in the past in terms of the aero balance and how it shifts, the mechanical balance and how it shifts – a low rear. It’s a much different machine to drive. It’s going to require a lot of finesse, a lot of work to find how to set it up with new tools that we have. I hope the simulator is accurate. If not, we’ll make corrections, and push forward.”
Hamilton’s feisty words regarding his intention to raise his game further still must be viewed in the context of F1 entering a new age – one in which the championship’s owner hopes any team can win, not just Mercedes, Red Bull and (sporadically) Ferrari. If Mercedes starts the new campaign in what has really become its traditional spot – at the front – then that’s one thing. But if W13 is off the pace or at the same level as another car, then his vow to improve could be a crucial difference.
One hallmark of a truly great racing driver is the ability to succeed in a slower car. Hamilton checks that box – and indeed did so throughout 2021. Yes, Mercedes’british GP upgrade last year was impressive, but it did only bring the squad onto terms with Red Bull, which regularly squandered the best of the RB16B’S potential during the title run-in, rather than step clear. Hamilton made the difference.
He did it with his own clear style in wheel-to-wheel racing too, against Verstappen’s persistent aggression. This was ultimately vindicated – Hamilton had the title won before Nicholas Latifi’s crash five laps from the season’s end – but it’s worth considering what might happen if indeed Mercedes finds itself behind or in a close fight come the start in Bahrain next month.
If either of those scenarios comes to pass, then Hamilton will have to tread unfamiliar ground – matching his desire not to leave points for others by getting involved in clashes, with not being able to afford
“MAX DID EVERYTHING A DRIVER WOULD DO GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY HE HAD. HE’S A GREAT COMPETITOR”
to regularly back out of contact. The first lap of the 2021 British GP showed what could happen when Hamilton gave as good as he got from Verstappen. But in making his public return last week, there are no hard feelings from Hamilton towards his fierce rival.
“This has nothing to do with Max,”hamilton replies when asked about his relationship with Verstappen and Red Bull following the conclusion to 2021.“Max did everything a driver would do given the opportunity he was given. And he’s a great competitor.
“We will go into another battle like we did last year and hopefully conduct ourselves… we will obviously grow from our races and experiences we had last year all through the season. But [I have] no issues with him. I don’t hold any grudges with anybody –
I never think that’s ever a good thing to carry around with you. I move forwards, I don’t dwell on the past. And I feel fresh, I feel centred, and fully focused. I don’t have anything over my shoulders holding me back this year. Not that I did last year, but I’m not letting that experience be one of those.”
Overall, Hamilton’s reappearance in the F1 spotlight is rather remarkable. He laments the media calls still being conducted on Zoom, but even there his positivity shines through. Autosport’s question about how he has been working with Russell raises a wide smile. He’s been spotted filming his new team-mate leaving the garage for the W13’s first laps on his phone. His words on Abu Dhabi seem cathartic but definitely not bitter – even as they reveal the pain he has clearly been feeling keenly during the off-season.
The standout points from his words all concern the future. And if Hamilton can indeed channel his feelings on the potential eighth title he lost last year to reach previously unscaled heights of driving feats, then F1’s new era is going to be all the better because of it.
Although long-lasting top-level motorsport careers are increasingly common, there’s also no doubt that Hamilton is now closer to the end of his racing life than the start. He’s been around long enough to know the danger of making vows on performance a driver can’t keep – which made his words on the year ahead stand out so starkly. And impressively.
Judging by Hamilton’s no-holds-barred approach to Mercedes’ 2022 launch event, his final F1 chapters may well contain some of his most impressive stories yet.