Again to profitable methods in 2024 after 946 days with out gracing an F1 podium’s high step – Lewis Hamilton’s emotional Silverstone victory was the spotlight of his season, however he was wonderful in qualifying and on the orthodox two-stop technique at Spa too.
Hamilton’s in-race tyre administration stays high class, as his tempo whereas rising in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi confirmed, plus how he held off Max Verstappen on extra fragile tyres late in that Silverstone win.
However his total qualifying towards George Russell and braking confidence struggles, plus errors corresponding to at Austin, imply he goes to Ferrari with peak efficiency inquiries to reply.
The place Hamilton nonetheless has a crucial F1 edge
“I really feel on race Sundays that it is nonetheless in me. I do know I nonetheless have the velocity and that offers me a variety of hope for what’s to return.”
Hamilton stated these phrases to the invited visitors of Mercedes’ title sponsor, Petronas, simply days after he’d turned out for the Silver Arrows squad in an F1 race for the ultimate time.
That he was talking to them in Malaysia in any respect within the days after the Abu Dhabi marketing campaign finale was the reason he couldn’t make an early debut with Ferrari in the season-ending tyre test – Mercedes’ choice to carry him to the complete size of his contract a lot about not handing a 2025 title rival any additional edge.
Hamilton’s record-extending ninth British GP victory was a shining gentle in an in any other case disappointing marketing campaign
Picture by: Erik Junius
Staff insiders additionally defined this was why he didn’t get a giant pre-race send-off in Abu Dhabi, the place it was enterprise as standard till the chequered flag. And, by way of one among Hamilton’s ongoing driving strengths, it actually was there. That is how the seven-time world champion remains to be in a position to get the very best out of the complicated Pirelli rubber over race stints.
Again at Silverstone, he was in a position to make the smooth tyres final within the dry remaining stint and see off a rampaging Verstappen, when Lando Norris in a McLaren may have beforehand been set to win. This was Mercedes’ mid-season purple patch, the place the cooler circumstances at Silverstone gave the W15 a crucial edge. Even cooler temperatures in Las Vegas made it class-leading.
Hamilton’s remaining stint there – the place he was homing in on eventually-winning team-mate Russell at a price of almost 0.3s a lap with a lot older tyres – confirmed once more how his in-race tyre therapy can present him with a crucial edge.
The issue was how usually this yr he was deploying this from weak positions after poor qualifying outcomes. Take Vegas – the place Hamilton’s pair of Q3 errors meant he began tenth, with Russell on pole. The Abu Dhabi qualifying Q1 exit wasn’t his fault, however once more he responded with a masterful race drive – gaining 12 locations on the contra-one-stopper.
Subsequent yr Hamilton heads to Ferrari, the place he can be paired with F1’s greatest qualifier in Charles Leclerc. His in-race tyre administration prowess will once more be a key power, however his struggles with braking confidence – so lengthy a profession power – when pushing on the peaky softest compounds imply there are already fears he’ll be battling again simply as he usually did with Russell this yr.
Little doubt, he’ll be out to show such predictions unsuitable.
Hamilton will be part of Ferrari in 2025 after 12 seasons with Mercedes and the Scuderia is predicted to mount a title problem
Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Photographs
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Alex Kalinauckas
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Lewis Hamilton
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