Lewis Hamilton

## Career Overview

### **McLaren (2007 - 2012)**

Lewis Hamilton would make his F1 debut in 2007, with McLaren. Hamilton would finish second in the WDC standings in his first season on F1, only one point shy of Kimi Riakkonen. In 2008, Hamilton would take the title in the final race of the season, famously passing the Toyota of Timo Glock at the final corner to take a 5th place finish.

### **Mercedes (2013 - 2014)**

Hamilton would move to Mercedes in 2013, and would often out perform his team mate Nico Rosberg.

In 2014, the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg reached boiling point. Hamilton would lose out to Rosberg in the WDC fight by one point. This lead to Hamilton publicly accusing Mercedes of favouring Rosberg, as at multiple previous races, Rosberg was given the ideal strategy; even if Hamilton was leading.

This lead to Hamilton moving to Ferrari for 2015, and he would win on debut for the Scuderia.

### **Ferrari (2015 - 2016)**

Hamilton would remain in the title fight until the Mexican Grand Prix, where a collision with the lapped Force India of Sergio Perez cost Hamilton a certain race victory. 2016 would prove to be rather mediocre, with Hamilton only scoring one pole position and winning only one race.

### **Toyota (2017 - 2021)**

Hamilton would move to Toyota for 2017, who returned to the sport for the first time since 2009. Outperforming the car for much of the season, Hamilton was however beaten to the team's first podium on their return by Kobayashi.

#### **2018**

Hamilton would take the TF118 to victory at Azerbaijan. Therefore marking a turning point in the team's F1 history. A third of the way into the season, Hamilton remained in the title fight, albeit some way behind Championship leader Fernando Alonso. Hamilton would claim a lucky podium at Germany after starting 13th on the grid. a masterclass strategy by Toyota at Belgium would one again propel Hamilton to victory. Hamilton would once again take the top step of the podium at the next race at Italy, this time due to luck. Josh Tirowee in the Williams had the race under wraps, until he was hit off by the backmarker of Rio Haryanto whilst lapping the Indonesian. Then led a battle between the Williams pair fighting for top spot, allowing Hamilton to close on the pair. Going onto the last lap, Hamilton lay second behind Kubica. Despite Tirowee's best attempts to hold up the Toyota, Hamilton made a decisive move round the final corner to take the race victory by less than a tenth of a second from Kubica.

Despite an upturn in form, Hamilton would drop out of title contention at the completion of round 17, as he was 41 points behind Fernando Alonso with only 40 points left on offer. Hamilton would be part of another landmark for Toyota at the next race in Mexico, as he followed home Kamui Kobayashi to record the team's first ever 1-2 finish in F1. Hamilton would return to winning ways in the season finale, with a dominant lights to flag victory.

#### **2019**

Hamilton remained with Toyota for 2019.

Two consecutive podium finishes in the first two races put the 2008 Champion joined 1st in the standings, joined with Mick Schumacher and Daniil Kvyat. A dominant display at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw Hamilton take his first victory of 2019. Hamilton would also take victory after a controlled drive at the Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton was denied a third win in a row, by a resurgent Mick Schumacher. Hamilton would take victory at the German Grand Prix, after Verstappen dropped out with an engine failure. Hamilton would dominate the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, topping all three practice sessions, taking pole and then the race win. He was denied a clean sweep as the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg scored the point for fastest lap. Hamilton looked set for another race win at the Italian Grand Prix, but a serious miscalculation by Toyota meant the Brit was seriously under fueled, and had to significantly back off if he was to make it to the end of the race. This gave the lead and race win to Josh Tirowee, with the Ferraris of Leclerc and Vettel in second and third. Hamilton finished a disappointing fourth.

Hamilton narrowly missed out on the Driver's title, due to the final four races being cancelled due to Coronavirus lockdown.

#### **2020**

Under the new Toyota Haas partnership, Hamilton looked unstoppable from day one. The Brit took a convincing pole position, and controlled the race ahead of new teammate Nobuharu Matsushita. It was much the same story at round 2, with Hamilton taking an easy pole and race victory. Hamilton made it three wins from three races at Brazil. it was business as usual for Hamilton at round 5 at Spain. Despite only qualifying third, he was up to second after the first lap. Following the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg for the early laps, Hamilton made a decisive move into turn one to take a lead he was to keep for the remainder of the race. Hamilton's win streak would be broken at the next race, finishing third at Monaco. Hamilton got back to winning ways at the Italian Grand Prix, dominating the whole weekend.

Hamilton went on to take a dominant win also at the Bahrain Grand Prix, leading home teammate Matsushita for a 1-2 finish.

Hamilton would suffer an engine failure at the Chinese Grand Prix, retiring from a net third position. The 2008 World Champion's championship lead being almost halved to 26 points. Following the result of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Toyota Haas made history, winning the Constructor's Championship, and becoming the first fully fledged Japanese outfit to do so.

Heading into the final race at Japan, Tirowee was one point behind Hamilton. After qualifying, they were equal, as Tirowee took a point for third. In the early laps Tirowee was ahead of Hamilton, until the 2008 Champion made a daring move through 130R to move into a title winning position. A few laps later, Hamilton was caught up behind the Renault on Nico Hulkenberg, Tirowee used this opportunity to repass Hamilton into 130R. Both headed for the pits on that lap. Alfa Romeo put Tirowee on a set of Mediums to go to the ends, whilst Totoyta put Hamilton on a set of Hards. This ultimately proved to be the wrong decision from Toyota, as Hamilton struggled for pace on the white-walled tyres. To hammer it home, Sebastian Vettel in his final outing made a move on Hamilton into turn 1, it wasn't clean and Hamilton suffered substantial damage to his TRD120, but opted to run to the end of the race, as the car was structurally safe to do so. To compound his and Toyota's misery further, Max Verstappen in his Honda powered Red Bull lapped Hamilton on the final lap on his way to a dominant lights to flag victory. Hamilton had lead the Championship all season, but poor run of form, and Toyota struggling with reliability ultimately cost them the Driver's title.

#### **2021**

After narrowly losing out on his second Championship title for the last three seasons, Lewis Hamilton was more motivated than ever to finally take his glory at the team he's helped raise from the ashes.

Round one would start poorly for the Japanese outfit. The team were experiencing electrical issues that was preventing the TRD121 running at full power. Whilst the issues were unlikely to lead to a race retirement, the calculated loss of performance was 0.5 seconds per lap. Hamilton and Matsushita had a decent race considering, but they were far away from the early season domination from 2020. Toyota's issues continued into round 2. Both drivers once again experiencing issues, but less so on Matsushita's car, with the Japanese driver finishing in 5th, whilst an ailing Hamilton could only manage 11th. Toyota again struggled in round 3. Matsushita finished lead car only in 7th, whilst Hamilton struggled with the persistent electrical issues finishing down in 15th. Issues for Hamilton persisted in round 4, finishing in 13th, one place behind Matsushita.

Hamilton's Monaco Grand Prix was a race to forget. Starting second was as good as it got. Struggling to keep up with the pace of Matsushita, Hamilton found himself under pressure from both Alfa Romeos and Fernando Alonso. After the mid-race pit stop, Alonso, Hamilton and Tirowee came to blows in a collision at Sainte-Devote. After completing a whole lap with no front wing, he would later be involved in an incident with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly. His nightmare race came to an end two laps from the end with an engine failure.

The Italian Grand Prix has always been the ultimate test of engine performance. Toyota only came away from the race with 6 points. Both cars once again experiences technical issues and had to run on lower power modes to make the race distance.

Toyota appeared to turn a page at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton and Matsushita locked out the front row, and easily had the pace to dominate in the race. However, Toyota's reliability issues hit once again for Lewis Hamilton, when the then race leader's engine imploded in dramatic fashion. Matsushita inherited the lead and would hold onto it to the end to secure the race victory.

Hamilton ended a difficult and shortened season 11th overall.

### **Return to Mercedes (2022-Present)**

Hamilton grew frustrated with Toyota's strategic failures, along with many mechanical failures last season, which prompted the Brit to return to Mercedes.

Both Mercedes and Hamilton needed to rebuild from disappointing 2021 campaigns, and two points finishes to open the season was a good foundation. Hamilton found himself making more mistakes with the tricky W13. Every time there was a chance at a podium or win, either himself or the car would fail.

Mercedes' misfortune continued at USA. Hamilton was on a two-stop strategy, and once Leclerc picked up damage was on course for victory. He spun mid race on his own and dropped out of the points. Russell was on target for a top 5, but smashed into Sergio Sette Camara's Aston Martin and lost his front wing. A possible win or double podium lead to a pointless race.

Mercedes had one final chance to show the theoretical pace of the W13 at Brazil. Russell and Hamilton locked out the second row. Verstappen pulled away from the get go. Tirowee was a clear 2nd, after Russell lost time trying to make an overoptimistic move and dropped behind Hamilton and Alonso. Hamiltion made another error with the W13, and lost the final podium spot to Leclerc on lap 7. Mercedes developed well throughout the season, but constant errors cost the team a shot at Ferrari and 4th.

#### **2023**

2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton continues with the German giants. Despite not appearing on the rostrum in 2022, the Brit was far more consistent than Russell, but mistakes crept in when a top three was on the cards.

Las Vegas hosted the first of three Wildcard races, allocating 5 points for pole, and all 20 positions in the race. Josh Tirowee's Red Bull ERS issues were still occurring on lap 12. George Russell made a move down the strip, but Tirowee regained the place as both pitted at the end of the lap. Gasly span on lap 13, blocking the track after the strip, and brought out the first Safety Car of the season. Verstappen lead from Hamilton, Alonso, Russell and Leclerc. The squabbling from the three Mercedes powered cars allowed Tirowee to get back in the action. Red Bull were able to resolve the ERS issue under the Safety Car. Alonso squeezed out Russell on the run down the final straight, and Tirowee made his presence known passing both of them onto lap 23. The RB19 has a significant DRS advantage, as well as being the package to beat aerodynamically. Tirowee made it a Red Bull 1-2 on the final lap, pulling a gap over Hamilton. Hamilton and Russell brought the W14s home in 3rd and 4th.

For the first time in 10 years, Yas Marina hosted the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton won the last race here in 2014 in a Mercedes and is on top early. Tirowee pulled out a mega lap to once again steal pole on the last lap. Hamilton went back to his FP1 setup and completed the front row. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ran in the sunlight. Tirowee held the lead but Hamilton was hungry for his first win since 2020 and made the move in sector 2. Those on a one-stop began to pit at the end of lap 13. Hamilton went one lap longer, and Verstappen further still onto lap 15. Red Bull split the strategy, and left Tirowee out until lap 19 to pit for Softs. Verstappen caught and passed Hamilton for the lead in lap 25, but couldn't pull a gap to the Mercedes. Verstappen was leading onto the final lap. Hamilton has saved as much battery as he could for one final assault. Down the back straight, Hamilton dumped the entire battery from the W14 and made a move on the final lap for the win. Hamilton won for the first time since 2020. Verstappen was only 3 tenths behind.

Mercedes went from being the nearest challengers to Red Bull to being mired in the midfield at Bahrain. Both cars were out in Q2. Russell found pace on the Hards, and made progress into the points positions. Hamilton was losing over a second a lap, his Hards got gelling with the W14. The Mercedes swapped places on lap 24, as Norris and Albon demoted the 2008 Champion out of the points. Russell salvaged a 6th place finish, whilst Hamilton was down in 13th.

The knifedge characteristics from the W13 began to reemerge with the W14 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Mercedes could get heat into the Wets during Q2 and were knocked out in 14th and 15th. Hamilton had a better race than Russell, but could only climb up to 11th at race end. Russell had a race to forget down in 17th whilst struggling to keep the AlphaTauri of Lawson behind.

For the British Grand Prix, Mercedes ran with a one-off purple livery in support of Lewis Hamilton's Mission 44 initiative. Mercedes junior Frederik Vesti took the purple arrow out for some laps in FP1. Hamilton finished FP1 where he wants to remain for the rest of the weekend, on top from fellow Brits Tirowee and Ticktum. It was another all-Brit top 3 in FP2 with the same top 2 and Norris in 3rd. It was another all-Brit top 3 in FP2 with the same top 2 and Norris in 3rd. FP3 took place in Intermediate conditions, with the rain expected to continue into Qualifying. Zhou found the pace to go fastest from Norris and Hamilton. Hamilton made a mistake on his final run in Q3 and was only 10th. Most of the grid pit at the end of lap 12. Most boxed for Hards, whilst McLaren were risking it all for a home win and opted for Mediums. Hamilton was also on charge and scythed past Verstappen and Leclerc to make an all-Brit top 3. Hamilton couldn't maintain his earlier offensive, and fell back behind the Ferrari and Red Bull. Hamilton held onto 5th, whilst Russell went under the radar to climb to 6th, and finished directly behind the 2008 Champion.

## Racing Record (Formula One Results Only)

Results in **bold**, indicate Championships won.