Lewis Hamilton is a Formula 1 racing driver currently driving for Mercedes-AMG Petronas. He has won eleven Grands Prix, more than any other British F1 driver in history and also became the youngest ever to reach 100 podiums at 23 years old.
The “what has lewis hamilton done” is a question that many people ask. This article will answer the question as well as provide information on what Lewis Hamilton has done in his career.
AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) — One of Formula One’s biggest championship clashes is between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The U.S. Grand Prix, held this weekend on the undulating Circuit of the Americas just outside Austin, Texas, will be the next chapter. Here’s everything you need to know about the race in Austin, including what’s on the line, why Hamilton is so good, why Verstappen is the next big thing, and how they’ve ended up six points apart with six races remaining.
What is the present situation?
This is a race for the ages in Formula One. Since the start of the season, the championship lead has changed four times, although no driver has led by more than eight points since the British Grand Prix in July.
To put that in perspective, winning and setting the fastest lap guarantees an eight-point advantage over the second-place finisher, implying that neither Hamilton nor Verstappen has been able to gain a significant lead over the other in the span of 16 races. Over a sport that has been controlled by Mercedes for the last seven years, Verstappen’s challenge distinguishes this season as something absolutely unique in F1’s recent history.
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Verstappen regained the lead over Hamilton in the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago, and currently leads by only six points, 262.5 to 256.5, heading to Austin for the United States Grand Prix. Verstappen has seven wins to Hamilton’s five, which is a crucial measure to track since it will be the deciding factor whether the two complete the season on equal points.
However, a more telling statistic about the power differential between the two drivers is that Verstappen has led 469 laps to Hamilton’s 133. Of course, the only lap a driver needs to lead in a race is the last one, but it’s a useful statistic to show how Hamilton has been the underdog for the duration of the season.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are in the midst of one of the most exciting Formula One championship races in recent memory. Getty Images/Peter Fox
What’s the stakes?
Hamilton, who is 36 years old, is aiming to create F1 history. Another title would be a record eighth for him, as he is presently tied with Michael Schumacher for the most with seven. Winning this year’s championship would put Hamilton, who currently has 100 victories and 101 pole positions, in new territory.
Verstappen, on the other hand, is in the opposite predicament. The 23-year-old is attempting to win his first title in what is projected to be a successful career. If he wins, he would become the fourth-youngest Formula One champion after Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso, but it’s also worth mentioning that this is the first season in his seven-year career that he has a vehicle capable of challenging for the championship.
What is it about Hamilton that makes it so good?
This year, Lewis Hamilton won his seventh British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Getty Images/Dan Istitene/Formula 1/Formula 1
Even if you don’t watch Formula One, you’ve most likely heard of Hamilton — and rightfully so. He is one of those rare talents and remarkable people who can transcend his sport and leave a lasting impact that affects millions of people.
Hamilton’s father, Anthony, was born from a working-class family and took on three jobs to support his son’s early karting career, as well as re-mortgaging the home to keep up with the payments. When McLaren CEO Ron Dennis signed Hamilton up at the age of 13, he placed him on a fast track to Formula One with one of the sport’s major teams.
However, before making his debut with McLaren in 2007, Hamilton had to earn his place on the F1 grid by winning championships in junior series. He also broke down boundaries in a sport that still lacks diversity 15 years later as the only Black driver in F1 history.
He came close to winning the championship in his maiden season in Formula One, but a sequence of tiny errors at the conclusion of the season allowed it to slip through his fingers by a single point. He realized his destiny by winning the 2008 Formula One World Title a year later, but McLaren’s slow collapse began a year after, and he did not win his second championship until he switched to Mercedes in 2014.
He established himself as the main driver in a new super squad at Mercedes, being in the right position at the right time when the team rocketed to the top of the sport after a rule change in 2014. Since then, the team has remained at the top thanks to a mix of enormous financing, technological competence, and strong leadership, but Hamilton’s contribution to the team’s success should not be overlooked. The greatest drivers wind up with the best teams, and although Hamilton has a reputation for making winning championships appear simple, he is also recognized for pushing himself more than the bulk of his colleagues to achieve perfection.
Hamilton has had the chance to pursue other areas including as fashion and music as a result of his success on the track. In recent years, he has also utilized his popularity to spread critical ideas about social justice and the environment, which are still at the heart of his beliefs today.
What makes Verstappen such a great driver?
Getty Images/Dan Mullan
Max Verstappen, the son of former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, began his career with a lot of pressure on him. But for Verstappen, who has always been one of the most naturally talented drivers of his generation, pressure has never been a problem.
It’s difficult to say how much is due to nature and how much is due to nurture, but Verstappen swiftly established himself as a winning machine throughout his junior career. Few of his contemporaries have been able to match his sheer speed, and in recent years he has worked with Red Bull to produce a vehicle that is blisteringly fast in his hands but jittery and undriveable in his teammates’.
Despite winning races every year since his breakthrough victory in his first season with Red Bull in 2016, this is the first season in which he has the equipment to challenge for the championship. Rather than being overwhelmed by the possibility of such a role, Verstappen has embraced it and has remained unaffected by the increased media attention and mounting pressure of the championship chase.
In wheel-to-wheel skirmishes, he’s also proved to be a difficult customer, refusing to give an inch in direct fighting with Hamilton, even if it means a crash. He has appeared untouchable at times this season, and his championship advantage might have been much larger if it hadn’t been for a tyre failure in Azerbaijan and two incidents in the British and Hungarian Grand Prix.
What has happened thus far?
The rivalry between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has taken on a new dimension as a result of the events that occurred during and during the British Grand Prix. Getty Images/Dan Istitene/Formula 1/Formula 1
Mercedes will not have an easy trip to the championship in 2021, it became evident fast. As the defending champions struggled to adapt their 2020 vehicle to new regulatory revisions aimed at slowing the whole field to safeguard Pirelli’s tyres, Red Bull emerged as the team to beat in pre-season testing. The regulation revisions definitely had a greater influence on Mercedes’ design idea than on its competitors’, but it also resulted in one of the most competitive seasons to date, as Red Bull finally got its vehicle and engine package perfect.
Despite Mercedes’ early troubles, Hamilton won the first race in Bahrain, and the two title contenders began to swap wins in the first part of the season. Hamilton’s biggest points lead came after a dominant win at the Spanish Grand Prix, but it was his last win in 11 races, and it was followed by his worst performance of the year at Monaco, where he finished seventh despite his teammate Valtteri Bottas running in the top three before a pit stop issue.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku provided a potentially title-defining moment for both drivers. For the most of the race, Verstappen seemed to be on his way to a comfortable win until his right rear tyre ruptured at over 200 mph with only five circuits to go. The crash caused him to withdraw, and the race was halted while track workers cleaned up the damage, leaving Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Hamilton in a straight duel for the win.
At the restart, Hamilton had a better start, but he put his vehicle on the incorrect brake setting before of the first curve, causing him to run wide and drop to the back of the pack. With his tyre failure, Verstappen had lost 25 points in the blink of an eye, and Hamilton did the same, with Perez winning the race.
Verstappen was able to move on from his Baku loss, winning the French Grand Prix against the odds and putting in two spectacular performances at Red Bull’s home track in Austria. Verstappen and Red Bull seemed to have finally gathered enough momentum to take the title by storm, but then came the British Grand Prix at Silverstone…
The collisions that might make or break the season
At Monza, Max Verstappen’s vehicle flew into the air and landed on top of Lewis Hamilton’s. Getty Images/Peter Van Egmond
The duel between Verstappen and Hamilton was so tight that it appeared inevitable that they would crash on the track at some point. In Imola, Portugal, and Spain, the two had gone dangerously close to colliding, but Hamilton had always been the one to pull out and escape a collision at the last second.
Hamilton was the aggressor at Silverstone, having come from behind and needed to make a move stick to clinch a home victory and stop Verstappen’s championship momentum. After battling for position for the first two-thirds of the lap, it became evident that the race would have to be decided either before or at the 190 mph Copse Corner.
The sweeping right hander is broad enough for two vehicles to race wheel-to-wheel, but it needs both drivers to have immaculate judgment and a willingness to give each other room. However, when Hamilton parked his vehicle on the inside, Verstappen showed no sign of allowing him more room, and the cars tangled as the front of Hamilton’s car washed wide on a tighter angle.
Verstappen’s vehicle was in a four-wheel slide and on the verge of a terrible disaster in a fraction of a second. From 190 mph, the automobile came to a complete stop against the barriers, exerting 51 times the force of gravity on both man and machine. Verstappen was fortunate enough to walk away from the crash unharmed, but he followed the circuit doctor’s instructions and went to the hospital right afterwards for additional examinations. Meanwhile, Hamilton stayed on track and won the race despite a 10-second penalty for provoking the crash.
The dynamics of the championship contest shifted from that moment forward. In the standings, Hamilton grabbed a much-needed 25-point advantage, but Verstappen seemed more motivated than ever to claim the championship.
The next time the two drivers collided was on the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix at the Roggia chicane. When it came to fighting for second place, Verstappen left no room for Hamilton, pushing the Mercedes over the run-off and sending Hamilton down the order.
Later in the race, Verstappen’s delayed pit stop placed them again on a collision path at the first chicane on lap 26, but neither of them was ready to give up this time. Hamilton seemed to have taken the lead after emerging from his own pit stop, but Verstappen left the nose of his vehicle in the turn and the two collided, throwing the Red Bull over the top of the Mercedes.
As it crossed over the Mercedes, Verstappen’s right rear contact collided with Hamilton’s helmet, and only the halo cockpit protection on Hamilton’s vehicle kept his head from being crushed. As a consequence of the incident, both drivers were forced to withdraw from the race, and battle lines were once again drawn in the media.
At the Russian Grand Prix in late September, Hamilton ultimately won his 100th race, reclaiming the championship lead, while Verstappen finished second despite starting from the rear of the grid due to an engine penalty. Hamilton had a new engine at the most recent race in Turkey, which dropped him ten places on the grid, but he was only able to return to fifth position, with Verstappen taking second place behind Bottas.
According to the most current form guide, Mercedes has a speed advantage over Red Bull while also benefiting from the new engines that were recently fitted in both vehicles. It should mean a direct fight in Abu Dhabi all the way to the end, albeit the contest is still so close that a single reliability problem might still be the deciding factor.
Both drivers are deserving champions, but only one of them will be crowned on December 12 in Abu Dhabi.
The “when did lewis hamilton start f1” is a question that many people ask. Lewis Hamilton started his career in karting at the age of 3 and then moved to single-seater racing. He made his debut in Formula One at the age of 23.
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