Why Lewis Hamilton Has Secured His Place Among The Greatest F1 Drivers

A decade ago, the opening to what was to be a dramatic season heralded the arrival of an exceptional talent in Formula One. Back then, as the sport came to terms with the remarkable start made by the 22-year-old Lewis Hamilton, no one could quite foresee the impact this precocious and fearless youngster would make. Ten years on, the jury is in and the verdict is unanimous: Hamilton is now within a race of securing his fourth world championship, that early promise more than fulfilled. The Briton is not the same man, nor the same driver, but his place in the pantheon of great F1 drivers has been assured.

In securing the title he will overtake Sir Jackie Stewart, who has reigned as the most successful British driver since he won his third championship after coming back from 20th to take fourth at Monza in 1973. Hamilton will have surpassed him after a season that has pushed him to his limit, when his rivalry with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has been measured by the finest of margins and neither driver could afford the smallest of misjudgments.

For Hamilton, it has demanded absolute focus, commitment and skill, and he has displayed them all. It is the feat of a driver reaching the peak of his powers.

In 2007, he was partnered at McLaren with the reigning double world champion, Fernando Alonso. In such exalted company and driving for one of F1’s dominant teams, successfully learning the ropes would have been an achievement. But he took third at the opening race in Australia and went on to score eight more consecutive top-three finishes, including two wins at Montreal and Indianapolis. That run of nine podium finishes equalled Jim Clark’s feat and doing so in his rookie year established a record that is unlikely to be bettered.

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He outperformed Alonso and the title would only elude him after worn tyres ended his race in the entrance to the pit lane in China and a gearbox problem took its toll at the final round in Brazil.

Hamilton promptly proved his showing had been no fluke by winning his maiden world championship the following year, passing Timo Glock at the last corner of the final lap in Brazil to finish in fifth place, beating Ferarri’s Felipe Massa to the title by a point.

Damon Hill first met Hamilton at the Autosport awards after he had won the title for Williams in 1996, when the future champion was a young karter, and Hill believes Hamilton is now reaching his peak. “There is no question that Lewis’s talent and passion and his mission to pursue his dream has been consistent and he has now fulfilled those ambitions,” he says.

“From a very early age he has had some intimation that he has a talent that he wants to allow full rein and he has absolutely done so.”

Hamilton spent a further five years at McLaren before joining Mercedes for 2013, at the time considered a bold move to a new team. Paddy Lowe was engineering director at McLaren and joined him as executive director at Mercedes when Hamilton switched. With Lowe now at Williams, this is the first year he has not worked alongside Hamilton but he has been a close witness to how far the Englishman has travelled in F1. “In the beginning of his career he made more mistakes,” says Lowe. “He maybe reacted less well when things didn’t go well but, nevertheless, his performance was remarkable even in the very early days.”

Two more titles followed with Mercedes, in 2014 and 2015, and this season, after nine wins in what has proved to be a testing car and with a strong challenge from Ferrari, Lowe has no doubt about Hamilton’s standing in F1. “Lewis is one of the greats of the sport,” he says. “And his career is not done yet. He will emerge as one of the very greatest drivers of all-time.

“This year has been a fantastic job. He has driven the most mature season of his career. He has held it together through difficult periods. At difficult races he has always been there racing sensibly and scoring the points and from that will emerge a deserved champion.”

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This is far from hyperbole and Lowe is not alone in his glowing assessment. Assuming Hamilton joins Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four titles, only Michael Schumacher (seven) and Juan Manuel Fangio (five) will have won more.

Hill also believes Hamilton deserves to be ranked alongside the greats. “With Lewis you are seeing precision that is something else,” he says. “You saw it with people like Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. He seems to be now driving with a relaxed command of his talent and his car, it really is something to behold.

“There is no way you couldn’t compare him favourably to Stewart and Senna, Clark and Fangio, the great artists of driving. He has that sublime talent.”

Hill’s father, Graham, won his second title at the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez in 1968 and John Surtees became the first – and only – man to win world titles on four as well as two wheels, when the four-times 500cc motorcycling champion took the F1 crown here in Mexico in 1964. Hamilton is likely to join them on Sunday because he has put in some exceptional drives. Not only has he maximised the difficult weekends where he struggled with the car but was untouchable at Silverstone, Monza and last Sunday at the US Grand Prix in Austin, flawless under pressure at Spa, and ruthless at Vettel’s expense in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.

They were headline moments but the former driver Johnny Herbert singles out his performance in the wet during qualifying at Monza as exemplifying his talent. “It was unbelievable, just brilliant,” he says. “What he was able to do, to rotate the car, the application of the brakes, how he picked up the throttle. I have only seen it a few times in my career when Nigel Mansell had to wrestle the car around a circuit and the only other one was Ayrton.”

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There is clearly no lack of drive, no faltering of ambition, from Hamilton and he appears motivated enough to sign another contract with Mercedes. As mighty an accomplishment as the fourth title would be, there may yet be much more to come.

“He is the fastest, most complete driver on the grid,” says Herbert. “I still don’t think we have seen the best of him yet. He is just getting stronger and getting better. For me Lewis is on a level par with any of the greats you wish to name.”