Despite the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, things are not going according to plan at all for Lewis Hamilton this season. It could get even worse: if the Mercedes driver doesn’t win his home GP at Silverstone next weekend, it will be the worst F1 year to date for the seven-time champion. The reason for this is Hamilton’s breathtaking career statistics in the premier class.
Many fans don’t even know how successful the Brit was even in the seasons without a driver’s title. He is the only driver in F1 history to have won in every active year. So since making his debut in the McLaren in 2007, Hamilton has climbed to the top of the podium at least once a year.
Even in difficult years like 2009, when McLaren completely messed up the amendment to the rules of the time with the complete change in the look of the cars, the then freshly crowned first-time world champion managed to win two times.
Or in 2013, when Hamilton, after six years with his sponsors Ron Dennis and McLaren, took the step to Mercedes, which was extremely risky at the time – also thanks to the persuasiveness of Niki Lauda. The change should ultimately pay off, but in the debut year of the now indispensable duo, Red Bull, or rather Sebastian Vettel, was the measure of all things. And yet Hamilton finished first at the Hungarian GP. At this point, let’s not announce that teammate Nico Rosberg bagged two wins in the same year…
How is it supposed to work against Red Bull and Ferrari?
However, the 2009 and 2013 seasons have much more in common. In both years it took exactly ten races before the number 44 scooped the winner’s trophy.
In 2022, Hamilton has little time left to repeat this “minimum requirement”, and even only one chance. In fact, the Silverstone GP is the ominous tenth race on the current racing calendar. This means that to maintain this – admittedly incredible – stat, winning is a must.
The place for it could hardly be more suitable, but it will fail because of the current set of wheels. Although Mercedes’ form curve has recently been slightly up, Ferrari and Red Bull are still faster than the world champion team. The Red Bulls have shown a dominance in recent races that is almost reminiscent of the golden Vettel years.
Hamilton therefore needs some of his magic. And maybe the necessary luck that the seven-time champion is currently missing compared to previous years.
Would you like to see if the veteran Lewis Hamilton can save his sensational statistics and bring in a surprise win in front of his home crowd? On RTL you can see the race in Silverstone on July 3 live and on free TV!