What makes Hamilton so dominant? 'I don't think he's gotten any faster'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Lewis Hamilton took his seventh world title in Turkey, putting him on an equal footing with Michael Schumacher. In 2021, the Brit's aim is to take that record by winning an eighth world title, which, according to Sky Sports analyst Martin Brundle, could already have been achieved.
Indeed, after 2007 and 2008, the Hamilton could have won the World Championship twice. In 2007 he had bad luck, but the following year Hamilton he overtook Timo Glock at the last corner in Brazil to win the championship from Felipe Massa. "To be honest, there was a huge amount that could be done to prevent that from happening at the time."
Hamilton has grown a lot
"You have to be able to see that it was enormously happy for Lewis. If he was unlucky in '07, he was lucky in '08", Brundle looks back. He closely followed Hamilton's performance and development, so he sees that the reigning world champion has become better and better. "If you look at those early years and Lewis now, I think he's become more complete. I doubt, however, that he has become faster.
"It's impressive to see how few mistakes he's making now." A big step in Hamilton's development was the move from McLaren to Mercedes, a team that was still driving in midfield at the time. "It all looked a bit weird back then. It looked like a gamble, but I'm sure if you knew what was happening behind the scenes it was less of a gamble."
Foreknowledge about Mercedes decisive
"What he knew about Ross Brawn and Niki Lauda around the stories with the hybrid engine was a reason for him. He already knew then that they had a big lead with the hybrid engine. If you are sold because of that and the big changes in the rules in 2014 it all makes a logical and great decision," concludes Brundle.