Title glory with the Silver Arrows, 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
In 2014, Mercedes quickly found themselves in a league of their own at the front of the pack, having seemingly bettered their rivals in adapting to the sport’s new turbo-hybrid era. As such, an intra-team battle for the championship developed between Hamilton and team mate Nico Rosberg.
It was a fight that went down to the wire at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and, while Rosberg’s car suffered an Energy Recovery System failure that put paid to his chances, there were concerns for the team over whether Hamilton’s vehicle could suffer the same problem. As it was, the Briton took the chequered flag to clinch both the win and his debut title for Mercedes.
A record-equalling seventh championship, 2020 Turkish Grand Prix
The years after that brought plenty more title glory for Hamilton and Mercedes, with the pairing going on to win both championships in every season that followed up until 2021 (with the exception of 2016 where Rosberg took the drivers’ crown).
This culminated in a particularly special moment at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, a
race in which Hamilton put in a masterful drive amid wet conditions to claim the win and in the process equal Michael Schumacher’s record of being a seven-time world champion. It proved highly emotional for Hamilton, who admitted after the event that he was “lost for words”.
The memorable wins
A wet weather drive for the ages, 2008 British Grand Prix
What would any Hamilton listicle be without a mention of his first win at Silverstone, a triumph often heralded as not only one of his best wins but possibly one of the greatest performances in the sport ever.
After starting from P4 on the grid, Hamilton quickly gained two positions on the opening lap before snatching the lead from McLaren team mate Heikki Kovalainen a few tours later. From then on Hamilton was untouchable, managing the treacherous conditions amid increasingly heavy rainfall to take victory by an astonishing margin of 68.577s.
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