Knighthoods, for most of us in the far-flung corners of the world, are neither here nor there. They hark back to a different time, to a world with a different value system. But paradoxically, a knighthood still represents a form of recognition that carries status.
Last weekend Hamilton won his 92nd Grand Prix, making him statistically the most successful driver in the history of motor racing’s premier category. Hamilton surpassed the winning record he shared with German Michael Schumacher, and he will no doubt go on to secure many more victories.
Since 2007, his debut season, Hamilton has relentlessly progressed to the pinnacle of his sport, and then stayed there.
In his rookie season with McLaren, Hamilton won four races and set the most pole positions and most points of any driver in history during their debut F1 campaign. He was also briefly the youngest driver ever to lead the world championship in that season.
Hamilton is currently the holder of 37 records. He has also won at nearly every circuit he has ever raced an F1 car on.
He has won the Hungarian Grand Prix eight times, has been on pole 97 times and on the front row 156 times. In addition to his 92 wins, he has been on the podium 161 times in 262 starts. That’s a 61.4% podium finish rate over 13 seasons. And he has broken barriers as the first black driver to win in F1.
Hamilton, now 35, will continue to break records and put up numbers that are unlikely to be matched, let alone surpassed, in years to come. Ironically, though, it’s the recent lack of a genuine rival, the struggle of a duel with someone equally as quick that is possibly why Hamilton is not as universally loved as Schumacher and Ayrton Senna were.
Personally, my interest in F1 has waned as it has become an increasingly anodyne processing of fast-moving advertising billboards on four wheels. Hamilton’s Mercedes team is so far ahead of the competition that the only thing stopping them winning are their own errors. And those are few.
Mercedes are on course for their seventh consecutive constructors’ world title, which will break the record of six in a row they share with Ferrari. The Scuderia achieved that feat between 1999 and 2004, when Schumacher won five of his seven world titles.
Similarly, Mercedes’ dominance has coincided with their relationship with Hamilton. He has so far captured five of his six titles with the German team and should, in due course, wrap up his seventh title overall and sixth with Mercedes.
Hamilton’s only competition is his teammate Valtteri Bottas and currently he is 77 points ahead of the Fin. Max Verstappen is quick, but his Red Bull car is not in the same class as the Mercedes, while Ferrari are a shambles this season.
There is an inescapable feeling that, barring 2014 to 2016, when Hamilton battled with his talented teammate Nico Rosberg before the latter retired after winning the 2016 title, Lewis has had it too easy. But that is an oversimplification. F1 is a sport where, regardless of the quality of the car, the driver still has to keep the skittish beast on track going 335km/h down straights and braking under massive G-forces into tight corners.
These skills have to be repeated time and time again, in all conditions. Yes, Hamilton might have the fastest and best car in F1, but he has shown consistency in guiding the four-wheeled missile through thousands of laps at barely imaginable speeds.
Winning six world titles over 13 years points not only to having great cars coupled with driver skill. It also reflects a ruthlessness and desire to keep winning.
Schumacher took Ferrari to great heights through his relentless desire and technical feedback, which in turn drove the engineers and mechanics to be better. Hamilton’s mentality has achieved the same at Mercedes.
The question of whether it’s the car or the driver that matters most in F1 is not so straightforward. Neither can win without the other.
Hamilton is, in pure numbers, the most successful F1 driver ever. Whether he is the greatest F1 driver of all time is a much more subjective debate and one that can never fully be resolved. Every era is different. But in this era and over the past decade, he has dominated his sport like no other.
Arise, Sir Lewis. DM168