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Lewis Hamilton is today not just any other name in the highest echelons of Formula 1; it is an institution. Hamilton has seen tough days, evidenced some of the most bewildering triumphs and authored some of the finest wins in Formula 1. He inspires as much as he motivates.
He owns a success story that is worth telling and narrating to posterity and his is a legend that will forever soar supremely even as the man continues to court many detractors and critics.
But which are some of the most awesome and best moments of Lewis Hamilton’s career? Let’s find out some in a marvellous journey that today reaches its 39th year!
2020 British Grand Prix win
The 2020-bound British Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton in a titanic battle at the front of the grid for top honours. And it would prove to be a brilliant result for the man from Stevenage as Hamilton claimed his third consecutive win of the season, an event that marked Mercedes’ fourth of the year.
This was to be the year where Hamilton made light work of the remainder of the grid thanks to racing with faultless and unabashed consistency.
Though it was the struggle for supremacy in the final lap of the race that made the sweet taste of victory sweeter; Hamilton, much like his then Mercedes teammate, George Russell, suffered a tyre puncture and was literally driving on three wheels to cross the checkered flag with a Red Bull-powered Max Verstappen catching up from behind.
The more Verstappen would close the gap down to the track position leader Hamilton, the more would British hearts begin to pound. But demonstrating spectacular control and tyre management with whatever was left on his car, Hamilton strolled to a win, a vital one in the end.
Winning a titanic duel with Raikkonen, Monza 2018
Throughout his checkered career, Hamilton has always had nice things to say about Kimi, on one occasion going as far as saying “I’m a massive fan of Raikkonen,” when the Finn announced his comeback to the pinnacle of Motor-racing, circa 2012.
But it was a comeback to the front of the row and ultimately, the win at Ferrari’s home track at Monza in 2018 that Lewis would deny Kimi having the pleasure of.
That’s when the Iceman Raikkonen had claimed, a few hours ago, a blazing lap time of 1:19:119 and with it, the pole position for the Italian GP 2018.
It took Hamilton two daring attempts, not one, to overtake Raikkonen and eventually claim three win; his first resulting in the Finn neutralising the move by immediately retaking the lead from the Britton.
But Hamilton hung on and didn’t lose cool to take the win, a part of nature that bore much similar to the man who claimed a valiant second for Ferrari in the race amid tens of thousands of Tifosi in attendance.
Their close wheel-to-wheel driving exemplified by the nervy moments down at the Ascari chicane and Raikkonen defending from Hamilton with all his might with the Mercedes man trumping Ferrari at Ferrari’s own race track ultimately made Monza a crazy and wild race. And such a brilliant triumph for Lewis, who’d eventually go on to take the world title that very year again.
Scoring a podium upon F1 debut
Few drivers manage to make it to F1 at the end of the day. Even fewer get to a compelling and world class team as McLaren.
But when Lewis Hamilton arrived in formula 1, circa 2007, he was aiming for nothing but the best for himself and his career in McLaren.
At the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton proved himself to be an attacker and one constantly on the go from the start.
Despite being paired with a giant in Fernando Alonso, who by then had already claimed two world titles, a young Hamilton hardly seemed to be under pressure.
Eventually, as the Melbourne-bound race went Kimi Raikkonen and his Ferrari’s way, Hamilton hung on to collect a potent third, a maiden F1 career podium for the boy with big dreams.
To this day, it could be argued, the Australian GP result of that year is one of the least celebrated albeit valuable moments of Lewis’s storied career.
Owning the fastest ever lap-record
Lewis Hamilton has no fewer than 65 fastest laps to his name, second-best only to a certain Michael Schumacher.
But Hamilton has something that even the legendary Schumacher doesn’t own: the record for the fastest ever lap recorded in the priceless history of the sport.
Two years after Kimi had set his then 1:19:119 at Monza, during qualifying for the event, Hamilton came to the very track and blazed the circuit at 264.362 kph, which meant lapping the venue 0.232 seconds quicker than the icy cool Finn.
How must it feel to break the record of a man whom you admire even as one of your F1 favourites has some six world titles less than your own tally?
2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
To many people, this must be a shocker. Though, in reality, it is anything but. Purely
from the perspective of showing grit and grace amid pressure instead of appearing salty at the end of a race result that would’ve seemed like the greatest betrayal in the history of Formula 1, the Abu Dhabi result deserves to be mentioned as one of Hamilton’s hallmark moments.
It is beyond the sphere of reasonable doubt that Lewis deserved to win the season ending winner-takes-it-all gala at 2021 Abu Dhabi.
But that Hamilton, who was robbed off a deserving title winning victory at the end, decided to congratulate the mighty Max Verstappen in the end, a true adversary, was emblematic of the British driver’s attitude and character.
The sight of his beloved father, Anothony embracing Max and congratulating his father especially after knowing that his family had been stabbed in the back calls out for huge applaud and bears testimony to what it means to not lose one’s composure amid an environment of embitterment.
Was Lewis Hamilton’s P2 the most lonely and painful P2 ever seen in F1’s history? Quite possibly, yes.