8:32 – Lewis Hamilton will make his 200th start in Formula 1 at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. As he reaches the major milestone, GPUpdate.net decides on his 10 greatest performances in the sport so far.
Canada, 2007
Hamilton burst onto the F1 scene in 2007, as GP2 champion, and immediately threatened experienced team-mate Fernando Alonso. After finishing third on his debut, and racking up four straight second-place finishes, he truly announced his arrival at the Canadian Grand Prix. Hamilton out-qualified Alonso by almost half a second, confidently defended his position into Turn 1 and survived four Safety Car periods to take victory number one.
Japan, 2007
Hamilton showed another side to his burgeoning talent later in the campaign, as he mastered awful weather conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix to score a crucial victory and move 12 points clear of Alonso – who crashed out – in the title battle. Hamilton would lose most of his advantage at the next race in China, though, as he slid off in the rain at the pit entry, with Kimi Räikkönen winning the final two races to snatch the crown.
Britain, 2008
Hamilton delivered another stunning wet-weather drive at Silverstone in 2008, marking his first win on home soil. After placing only fourth in a wet/dry qualifying, Hamilton launched forward at the start, slotting in behind pole-sitting team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, and quickly made a move for the lead. Amid on/off rain, he and McLaren kept on top of strategy, almost always running right tyre at the right time. Hamilton finished over a minute clear of the pack, lapping everyone up to fourth-placed Räikkönen, as he pushed towards his first Formula 1 title.
China, 2011
Having made it to the grid with seconds to spare, amid a fuel issue, Hamilton came out on top in a thrilling lead battle at Shanghai in 2011. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel fell behind Jenson Button and Hamilton at the start, but retook the lead on a two-stop plan, as the McLarens pitted three times, Button accidentally boxing at Red Bull’s garage. Hamilton, having already passed Button, cut the gap to leader Vettel in the closing stages and jumped ahead through Turn 7 on lap 52 of 56, capping a fine performance after his early technical concerns.
USA, 2012
Hamilton surprised many with the news that he would switch to Mercedes for 2013, but he remained committed to the McLaren cause, taking his final victory for the team on the sport’s return to the United States (the penultimate round of the season). Vettel held the lead at the start, as Hamilton worked to regain second from Mark Webber, but he soon came under threat from the Briton. Hamilton, gradually upping the pressure, found a way past with DRS on lap 42/56, and held on to take the chequered flag by just over half a second.
Bahrain, 2014
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who enjoyed close battles as team-mates in karting, found themselves scrapping up front again in F1 in 2014, as Mercedes dominated under new regulations. Bahrain marked the first proper head-to-head fight on the main stage, as Hamilton and Rosberg’s races converged on different strategies. Hamilton had built up a comfortable lead on the faster, Soft tyre, before switching to Mediums for his final stint, with Rosberg running the reverse plan, putting him in the pound seats when the Safety Car appeared. However, Hamilton defended expertly – in several close battles – to keep Rosberg at bay and achieve a brilliant victory.
Monaco, 2015
Hamilton was in a league of his own in Monaco in 2015, setting the pace on Thursday, romping to pole and building a lead of almost 20 seconds. However, under a late Virtual Safety Car, which became a full Safety Car, it all went wrong. After a frantic radio exchange, Mercedes pitted Hamilton for fresh tyres in the belief that he would rejoin in the lead, only to mix up its numbers, and he actually came back out in third, behind Rosberg and Vettel. Hamilton was devasted with the outcome, but his performance up to that point had been faultless.
Malaysia, 2016
Hamilton arrived at the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix eight points behind title leader Rosberg, after recovering most of the ground he had lost from early-season reliability problems. But while completely in control at the Sepang circuit, technical trouble struck again, as an engine failure sent him out of the race. Rosberg grabbed third, despite being penalised for an earlier collision, to hold a sizeable 23-point advantage. Despite rallying and winning the final four rounds of the season, Hamilton lost out to Rosberg, who retired shortly afterwards.
Brazil, 2016
One of the aforementioned quartet of victories came in Brazil. Hamilton led away from pole to the chequered flag in a race punctuated by Safety Cars and stoppages due to an array of incidents in torrential rain, hardly putting a foot wrong. While Red Bull youngster Max Verstappen stole the show with his wild run to third, Hamilton was again imperious up front. He even laughed that “I was generally just chilling” throughout the race.
Britain, 2017
Hamilton won a fourth successive race at Silverstone in 2017 with another commanding display in front of his home crowd. He took pole by more than half a second in a wet/dry qualifying session, thanks to a superb final run, and underlined his pace advantage in the race, leading from start to finish. Hamilton now has five British Grand Prix victories to his name, sharing top spot in the all-time winners’ list with Jim Clark and Alain Prost.
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