A century of Formula 1 wins, seven-time World Champion and potentially an eighth on its way. You can’t take away the success that Lewis Hamilton has had since entering the sport in 2007, but now that young superstars are emerging and we enter a new era of F1 next season, has Hamilton hit his peak?
Final chance to become World Champion?
We all know Lewis Hamilton for the seven World Championship titles he’s won and the immense impact he’s had on Formula 1. However, is this season his last chance to add to his seven championship titles?
Max Verstappen has already thrown a spanner in the works for Hamilton and Mercedes and sits only two points behind the Brit in the Drivers’ Standings. However, with six confirmed races and one more still to be announced, the Drivers’ Championship battle is definitely nowhere near finishing. A win for Hamilton in Russia secured enough points to regain his lead, however, he would have hoped for a larger lead after seeing that Verstappen was starting from the back of the grid. The Dutchman battled through the field and, with a bit of luck from the rain, finished on the podium, behind only Hamilton, maximising the number of points available to him.
He will have to finish the season in incredible form and outperform Verstappen in all the remaining races, in order to secure personal and team glory in the 2021 Formula 1 Championships. Personally, I think this is of course doable but will be extremely tough.
I’m kind of stating the obvious here but it will be tough to finish on top, but of course if very likely for Hamilton. However, could this be the final chance for him to win because of George Russell coming in next season and new regulations coming into play? In my opinion, yes it could be. We saw how strong Russell was in Sakhir and he’s only grown as a driver since then, scoring points for Williams whenever he likes now it seems. Hamilton will need to put up a major fight next season against the young Brit to hold him back from potentially becoming a World Champion in his first season with the team.
This, to me, could be Hamilton’s best chance at succeeding and claiming world glory, but of course, we don’t know what will happen next season and what factors may come into play.
Could George Russell steal Hamilton’s thunder?
Russell has been one of the main talking points this season. However, this season at the Belgium Grand Prix, the Williams claimed his first podium of his career, finishing behind only Verstappen, and turned out to be what solidified his seat for Mercedes next season. Now it’s confirmed that Russell will pair Hamilton next season, it’ll be interesting to see what dynamic will be formed between the duo.
The 23-year-old claimed his first points for Williams, in his career, at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August and his first podium in Spa the following week. With this and his single performance in a Mercedes car in Sakhir in mind, will Russell steal his teammate's thunder if he arrives at the German team?
I personally think Russell will be on-par or even better than Hamilton next season if they are teammates. It’s the only logical move for Russell and Mercedes to put him in the seat next year and his talent will shine whilst wearing black overalls. The only real comparison we have to show is Sakhir 2020, however.
How big of a change will the 2022 car make?
At the moment we don’t know, it’s really a guessing game. We could see Haas rise to the top of the grid and Mercedes fall behind Williams, it’s something we can’t predict at the moment. However, we know the skillset that Hamilton possesses and the seven-time World Champion will, undoubtedly, be able to find exactly what he wants out of the car.
It may take some time to get used to but Hamilton knows how to find the most out of the car and will easily be able to do this next season when the new regulations come into play.
Let us know what you think, has Lewis Hamilton hit his peak? Is this season his last chance at claiming his eighth World Championship?
I don't pay any mind to this article, it really doesn't matter. He is an amazing driver and if he has passed his peak then it shows how good he is when others that are in their prime and have a better car still struggle to compete. As for all this nonsense about it's only the car, that's why he's won so much, how people love rewriting history and have selective memories. He was winning long before he ever went to Mercedes and competed for and won a title over supposedly better drivers with better equiptment. yes mercedes has been dominant but it's never just the car no matter what, Hamilton's skill and talent as a driver has just as much to do with their domination of the sport as anything. He has always got more out of his car than his teammates and yes that includes 2016 when Nico won by a whopping 5 points. I read these posts where people over and over insist that drivers like Verstappen, and Schumacher and Senna, Prost, Louda among others accomplished what they did on pure skill, no help from the car at all yet those drivers had the best cars on the best teams when they were the most dominant. That is just how the sport works. People have forgotten and conveniently left out the true history of those drivers and their teams. It's a team sport and no matter how talented a driver is he will never win without a good team and they are never dominant without a great team and a great driver. Hamilton is a great driver, possibly the best ever, on a great team, but I'm sorry, I don't buy for a second that mercedes could put any driver in that seat and replicate the amount of success they have had with Hamilton. I like Verstappen, I think he is on his way to being great, but you don't have to tear down one driver to hold up another. I can say Senna was great, and Schumacher was great and Louda was great and Prost was great without ripping apart the others achievements. I can absolutely say and believe that Lewis Hamilton is the greatest driver in the history of the sport without diminishing anything that has been done before, is being done now and will be done in the future. I can say these things and also admit that Verstappen is the future and I'm excited to watch what he achieves in the coming years. He is the future of the sport. Im also excited to see what Norris, and Russel, and Mick Schumacher do in the future. So everyone needs to stop acting like praise for one driver means you need to bash another, it's childish and stupid to boot.
It is actually hard to know exactly when he peaked when he has not been really pushed by a strong team mate or any other cars on the track for the past 4 years. He could have peaked in 2015, that is why he lost the championship to Rosberg in 2016, The many wins and championships and records obtained since then could be more a result of the Mercedes Team being able to produce such a dominant car, rather than Hamilton actually getting better than his 2015 self.
Yes there's a point where you peak. Like a Ronaldo at 36, with sport science, discipline and the right mental attitude, that's a known factor. So yes peak,means age vs physical and mental strength. Thats changed you've got Tom Brady, tennis stars , soccer stars. Playing longer and winning still. Its about many things but to accept yes a natural peak and decline will occur, but that's not a given, and SLH has a team in place to make sure he performs at the highest level for the longest period. So maybe into his 40ties
Maybe he will lose the title this year but he has another 2 years to break Schumacher's record..
The Headline should read can Lewis Hamilton win while others around him have similar or better machinery to work with. The answer is NO. He can keep his paper titles .
How can he peak, his in a car that dose the peaking, with out his party mode he is useless now he needs a car thats 1sec faster and has to start on pole,
Popular on GPBlog
"Goodbye for now": Verstappen hints at future with Honda
F1 Today: Verstappen's Red Bull exit hint and Newey's Tsunoda anger
Chaos at Red Bull only grows: Tsunoda distrusts Verstappen and where is Marko?
