Five times Lewis Hamilton humiliated rivals with his superior race crafts

Briton Lewis Hamilton has earned recognition as one of the greatest drivers in Formula 1 history. Notably, Hamilton shares the distinction of the number of championship victories in Formula 1 with the legendary Michael Schumacher with seven title wins. Although the 39-year-old hasn’t been able to score a single win in the past two seasons, a great comeback might be in the works for the veteran in the upcoming season.

Lewis Hamilton has broken or equaled many records in F1. Records such as race wins, pole positions during qualifying and many others are those records that would take other drivers many years to simply break the record. Despite being in the sport for almost 17 years, Hamilton isn’t done with F1 as he signed another two-year contract extension with Brackley.

The 39-year-old has been working and training continuously to finally return to his winning ways and potentially contend for the world championship. The former world champion has risen from very humble beginnings and powered through multiple hardships along his journey. Hence, as the grid prepares for the challenges in the upcoming season, here is a recap of five times when Hamilton brutally humiliates his opponents on the grid.

5: Incredible victory at the 2021 Brazilian GP despite nightmare qualifying

The 2021 Brazilian GP‘s qualifying session was completely out of the ordinary for the seven-time world champion. Although the 2021 season produced a very close competition between Hamilton and Max Verstappen for the title, each point was imperative to the driver. However, during a regular Saturday qualifying session, Hamilton set the pace to acquire pole position for the sprint race and qualifying session.

However, due to an inconformity with his DRS system, Hamilton was subsequently disqualified from the session. At the steward’s discretion, the 39-year-old was allowed to partake in the following sprint sessions. The Briton also received grid penalties due to exceeding the quota of internal combustion engines. Despite these penalties, Hamilton powered through the grid and achieved a victory at the 2021 Brazilian GP, which reduced the point disparity between the title leader and him to just 14 points. The 39-year-old delivered an incredible performance as he outperformed arch-rival Max Verstappen.

4: Lewis Hamilton’s special 100th victory at the 2021 Russian GP with an impressive lead

The Briton has had a lot of impressive wins in his 17-year-long career in Formula 1. However, his 100th win was more special due to a major gap to his opponents during the race. Despite beginning third in the main race, Hamilton capitalized on pole-sitter Lando Norris‘ mistakes and eventually emerged victorious in the race. Notably, the 2021 Russian GP was the last time that the destination was raced through due to Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine.

The 100th win for Hamilton found him to be the only driver ever in the history of Formula 1 to score 100 wins in their career. Hence, this win was very important for the 39-year-old back then. Additionally, the former world champion had an impressive 53s lead over his competitors during the race. And the victory at the Russian GP helped the Briton to overtake the Dutchman for the world championship title points.

3: Lewis Hamilton’s comeback win from P14 in qualifying at the 2018 German GP

During the 2018 German GP, Lewis Hamilton wasn’t aware of the challenges that he would face over the weekend. While the qualifying session was in progress, the Briton faced serious hydraulics issues in his car and was unable to switch gears while driving. Hence, the 39-year-old retired from the session and sustained a P14 start for the Sunday race at the Hockenheim circuit in F1.

Regardless of tough qualifying results, Hamilton went on to drive amazingly in the wet conditions of the German GP of 2018. Additionally, during the race, the Briton caused a controversy when he rejoined the race after entering the pit entry and subsequently cutting lines of the pit lane. Stewards reprimanded the Briton for this violation but still allowed him to keep his race victory at the German GP. Hence, Hamilton advanced to the first position in the championship title due to this victory.

Hamilton’s title rival Sebastian Vettel crashed from the lead during this race. As such, the Briton’s victory was even more humiliating for the four-time world champion.

2: Lewis Hamilton’s amazing drive at the extremely wet 2008 British GP

It was just the second season of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 career. The 2008 British GP was extremely difficult even for experienced drivers during the time. Hamilton managed to score a P4 qualifying result in the Saturday session. Immediately at the start of the race, the Briton managed to reach P2 in the first turn thus overshadowing the other experienced drivers in the race.

The entire race was filled with chaos and crashes as the track had extremely wet conditions. Of the 20 drivers competing, only 13 drivers were able to finish the race successfully. One of those was Lewis Hamilton who scored his seventh victory at the Silverstone circuit. This win helped the Briton to tie with the championship leader Felipe Massa and subsequently score his maiden championship victory in Formula 1 with McLaren.

1: Lewis Hamilton’s astonishing win at the 2020 British GP despite a punctured tire

The 2020 British GP was anything but ordinary for the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes needed to win what was essentially the home race for the Brackley-based team as well as the 39-year-old. Hence, a pole position qualifying result from Hamilton was perfect for the main race on Sunday. The race was somewhat smooth sailing for the 39-year-old as he had a trajectory to win the Silverstone race.

However, during the final lap of the race, Hamilton suffered from a puncture in the front-left tire of the W11 challenger. The runner-up driver Max Verstappen was quickly gaining over the former world champion due to the lost pace from the punctured tire. Regardless, Hamilton did not give up and continued to race the last lap of the British GP and score his record seventh victory at the destination. This victory placed him to be the only driver to win seven times at the team’s home circuit.

In case you missed it:

• Who is the worst Ferrari F1 driver of all time?
• Top 5 most outrageous comments made by Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone

Stay Updated!

Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.

Subscribe NOW