
In the past decade, Sir Lewis Hamilton has built himself not only into arguably the most recognisable driver in motorsport but the most successful.
From his confident beginnings at McLaren, where he won the Formula 1 World Championship in his sophomore year (2008) – at the young age of 23 (then youngest ever F1 champion) – the signs were apparent that a champion was born. Speed, endurance, intelligence, sportsmanship, composure, Hamilton had it all and it caught everyone’s attention.
His McLaren reign wasn’t like a Ferrari that won five consecutive championships (2000-2004) thanks to Michael Schumacher; or four in a row (2010-2013) by Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing; Hamilton’s was in a competitive machine and it was clear that when this young British man – who was the first ever black F1 driver in history – got behind the win of a dominant car, he would win consistently.

In Hamilton’s rookie year (2007), he won four races, took pole positions six times and was on the podium 12 times. He ultimately finished second just one point behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The following year, Hamilton was not going to be denied, as he narrowly secured the championship by a single point, this time beating Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. 2009 saw Hamilton’s future McLaren teammate Jenson Button win at Brawn GP – a spinoff of Honda Racing –before Red Bull’s ascendancy with Vettel started in 2010. In all, Hamilton recorded 21 race wins, 26 pole positions and 57 podiums at McLaren, between 2007 and 2012.
McLaren failed to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari during the former’s period of dominance. Knowing the kind of competitive and highly-driven athlete Hamilton is, he needed a new challenge. In a huge gamble, Hamilton joined the less-fancied Mercedes team that returned to the sport as a constructor after 55 years. For much of its F1 history, the German automobile manufacturer had been an engine supplier that powered McLaren for 19 years which included Hamilton’s stint at Woking.
Ditching a competitive car for a lesser one did not make sense. Indeed, between 2010, when Mercedes returned, until Hamilton’s arrival in 2013, the Brackley-based team only won one race (Nico Rosberg at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix), making it on the podium only six times. However, there was a bigger picture that made Hamilton’s move the wise choice. F1 was moving towards V6 turbo hybrid engines in 2014. This was in response to the global automobile industry moving away from vehicles that were big carbon emitters and contributing to Climate Change. For a more sustainable world, there was a need for cleaner and more environment-friendly machines. While the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull were caught in the intense inter-team championship with V8 engines, Mercedes were building up for the switch to the V6 turbo hybrid engines in 2014.
Hamilton’s first year at Mercedes in 2013 was moderate, winning one race and finishing on the podium three times while his teammate Rosberg took two race wins and another two podiums. It was, however, from 2014 – when the final V6 engine switch was made – that Hamilton took his name and career to an incredible level. He won every championship between 2014 and 2020, with the exception of 2016 – which was taken by his teammate Rosbergfter, after which the German retired in what was a very tense and often frosty relationship between the two.
In Hamilton’s reign, Mercedes became the standard in the V6 turbo hybrid era and the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull were chasing shadows while Hamilton’s former team McLaren did not look anything close to competitive, sometimes challenging at the back of the grid like in 2015 and 2017 when they finished second from bottom in the constructors championship with a very substandard Honda engine.

Hamilton’s record at Mercedes between 2013 and 2021 reads 82 race wins and 77 pole positions, a feat that won’t be easily surpassed with a single constructor. A true testament to how dominant and phenomenal he has been with Mercedes.
Hamilton and Mercedes came under threat for the first time in the V6 turbo hybrid era in 2021 when Red Bull – running on an improved Honda engine package that showed promise from the 2020 season – began to match Mercedes pace-wise. During the first half of the season, Max Verstappen won five races compared to Hamilton’s four which gave the Dutchman the lead in the Driver’s Championship and brewed one of the most intense F1 rivalries in decades.
Hamilton clawed his way back in what was a very feisty campaign between both drivers, winning another four races and heading into the final race of the season on the same number of points with Verstappen, the first time such was happening at F1 in 47 years. Hamilton led for much of the race and was on course for a record eighth World Championship that would have seen him overtake Schumacher to become the most successful driver in F1 history. However a late safety car saw Hamilton’s advantage vanish as Verstappen – on fresh tyres – breezed past his championship rival. Verstappen won the race and clinched his maiden championship at the age of 24, becoming the fourth youngest champion after Vettel (23 years and 133 days), Hamilton (23 years and 300 days) and Fernando Alonso (24 years and 57 days).
Hamilton and the entire Mercedes team were visibly shaken and livid by the events of Abu Dhabi, believing the outcome of the race was manipulated by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) – the sports governing body – and sought every possible form of justice. Hamilton took a break from social media for months to deal with the perceived injustice. It put heavy attention and scrutiny on the FIA who ultimately had to relieve race director Michael Masi of his duties for wrongly applying the rules during that late safety car period.

Verstappen still kept his championship after investigations were carried out and Mercedes had to move on and focus on 2022. Many were expecting to see a recital of the 2021 campaign, however some regulation changes by FIA that pertained to the floor design of the car meant Mercedes had an aerodynamic deficit. It was evident in pre-season testing that the Mercedes cars suffered from a bouncing phenomenon known as ‘porpoising’, (airflow stalling underneath the car therefore causing it to bounce up and down which has a significant impact on pace and driver health). The pace was gone and it was Ferrari that looked competitive.
That was indeed how it shaped up when the 2022 season began in Bahrain, and Ferrari’s Scuderia emerged victorious in two of the first three races. After reliability issues for Red Bull in the opening three races, the energy drink-owned company were back to their dominant best. Verstappen won a record 15 races out of 22, finishing 146 points clear of 2nd place, held by Charles Leclerc (in Ferrari), in the Driver’s Championship, while Red Bull won the Constructors Championship for the first time in nine years, 205 points clear of Ferrari.
For Mercedes, it was their worst season in the V6 turbo hybrid, with only one race win all season, which came courtesy of George Russell in Brazil GP. Hamilton failed to win a single race for the first time in his illustrious F1 career, and finished sixth in the Driver’s Championship – the lowest finish of his F1 career. Mercedes finished in third place for the Constructors Championship. Mercedes simply had no pace to challenge the Red Bull or Ferrari, with both cars often breezing past either Hamilton or Russell with ease. That’s how poor the Silver Arrow machine was.
Indeed, it was a new low and it has cast doubt on whether Hamilton – whose contract runs out in 2023 – will continue in the sport as his quest for that elusive eighth championship looks slim. The British driver however clarified that he’s not going anywhere soon.

“So I’m not planning on going anywhere, any time soon,” Hamilton said at the Japanese Grand Prix which clinched the championship for Verstappen.
“It’s not that I’m not sure, I know what I want to do. I plan on staying longer. It’s just not set in stone how long. I plan on staying with Mercedes for the rest of my life – that’s a definite.”
Hamilton’s quotes above might not specify how long he’ll be racing, but it does indicate that he wants to remain part of the Mercedes family even after retirement, owing to how the company has been part of his racing career down to junior racing categories.
As things stand, Hamilton and Mercedes are on the back foot and if 2022 is to be used as a yardstick, 2023 will not be any better for the German team. If that is the case, it will really question if staying in F1 is worth it for Hamilton after 2023 because the less competitive Mercedes is the less likely Hamilton will be motivated to continue racing for the team. At that point, Hamilton could try his hands at Ferrari – a team he admired growing up and has not ruled out representing. That would be a fascinating move should it happen.
With that said, the winter break is an opportunity to improve on the car and if Mercedes can find more pace, it will definitely be a very thrilling season. Mercedes have the technology and personnel to make this happen. This is what aided their dominance in the early days of their V6 turbo hybrid and it still remains. 2022’s poor showing shouldn’t be a cause for worry but something that should spur them to come out much stronger.
Hamilton is still a phenomenal driver without any shadow of doubt. His age (37) has no bearing on what he can still achieve. All he needs is a car that is faster than Red Bull and Ferrari. Whether Mercedes can give him that in 2023 or beyond is what remains to be seen.


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