Lewis Hamilton is officially the GOAT in Formula 1 history. He holds the record for most wins (105), Most poles (104), and Most podium finishes (201). But all his big achievements came only when he signed for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team back in 2012 when former F1 Great Michael Schumacher announced his retirement from the sport.
Hamilton was driving for McLaren F1 until then and he won 1 world championship with the team. But after coming to Mercedes he won consecutive world championships from 2017 to 2020. He could have won the 2021 title and could have become an 8-time world champion surpassing Michael Schumacher. But he was denied after a controversial end to the final race.
Started his Mercedes Journey in 2013 and now just 6 races left before he ends his journey with the team. He joined Mercedes's key rival Ferrari and he will race for them next year. But a GOAT is always GOAT and let us see the 7 most iconic memories of the 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had with the Silverstone-based F1 team.
7 Most Iconic memories of Hamilton with Mercedes
1. The first win is always a sweet memory.
Lewis Hamilton won his first race for the Mercedes team in the 2013 Hungary Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton took the pole position in qualifying followed by then-world champion Sebastian Vettel. Lewis secured the win quite comfortably ahead of Lotus Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton becomes the only British driver after Stirling Moss to win at Hungary.
2. First Title victory with Mercedes
In 2014 the engine regulations changed to Turbo-Hybrid. Mercedes team took advantage of this and created a dominant car with a dominant engine. This is also called Mercedes or Lewis Hamilton’s era where they dominated every single race. Mercedes Won 16 out of 19 races with Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg in pole positions every race. Lewis dominated his teammate Rosberg who is his title contender and won the 2014 Drivers championship.
3. Hamilton-Vettel Rivalry
Lewis Hamilton calls his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel as the best rivalry. Both these drivers are very intense rivals and they are of similar ages and from the same era of young drivers. But now they become very close friends. Sebastian Vettel was 4 time champion and Lewis Hamilton was also 4 time champion in 2018. Vettel was driving for Ferrari and Lewis for Mercedes. This also charged up the title fight between these teams. The battle is for the fifth title as both drivers dominated each other in every race. Lewis Hamilton ended up being the 5-time world champion.
4. Equalling Michael Schumachers Title record
Hamilton Equalled the F1 Great Michael Schumachers record in the year 2020. Hamilton dominated the season with 124 points clear ahead of his teammate Valtteri Bottas and title rival to clinch his 7th title. He also surpassed Michaels 91 race wins in that season. The same season he was involved in the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign and took a knee before every race. Mercedes also sported a Black livery and Black race suit in support of diversity.
5. Winning the race with a punctured Tyre
In the same year, Lewis Hamilton won his Home Grand Prix at Silverstone with a punctured tyre which will remain forever iconic. Lewis was leading most of the race ahead of Red Bull's max Verstappen. But in the final lap of the race, his car’s front left tyre was punctured and he was struggling to cross the finish line without the tyre falling off. Max was chasing like hell and Lewis crossed the finish line on time and will forever remain an iconic memory at Silverstone.
6. Abu Dhabi Title fight drama
In 2021 the Engine regulations have changed giving Red Bull the advantage in their car. The Honda Powered Red Bulls were very dominant and very competitive which Mercedes have never seen for 8 years. Max Verstappen was giving a tough battle to Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Many feuds happened during the 2021 season between Red Bull and Mercedes. Even the team bosses clashed with each other many times in the press.
The final title fight went to Abhu Dhabi the final race of the season where Lewis Hamilton was in full swing to win his 8th title. Both Verstappen and Hamilton entered the race with 369.5 points which happened only the second time in Formula 1 history since 1974. Hamilton was leading the majority of the race until a crash occurred in the latter stages.
Race director Michael Masi gave a controversial call by allowing lapped cars to un-lap themselves before the final lap which brought Verstappen and Hamilton closer. Verstappen overtook Hamilton in the Final lap and became the Formula 1 champion for the first time and Lewis was denied his eighth title. This will forever be an iconic race in Formula 1 history and the most controversial race.
7. Winning after 945 days
Hamilton won the 2024 British Grand Prix after 945 days since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Mercedes Duo Hamilton and Russell Qualified in poles alongside another Brit Lando Norris. The race was interrupted by rain and Norris overtook Hamilton and Russell as both ran off the track due to poor grip. In Lap 28 Both pitted for intermediate tyres and after that Russell retired making Hamilton the only contender for Mercedes.
Then after the rain stopped Hamilton went for soft and Verstappen went for hards. This gave Hamilton an advantage as he passed Verstappen and Norris and stayed ahead till the end of the race winning after 945 long days. Hamilton cried after winning the race which shows how important the victory is for Hamilton. He is the only driver to win more races at the iconic Silverstone race circuit.
Also Read: Why there is a month-long second mid-season interval in F1? Explained
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