Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2018

Hamilton: People recognised my strength once I won multiple titles

2019 F1 season

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Lewis Hamilton says people began to realise his strength as a Formula 1 driver once he became a multiple world champion.

Speaking in an interview for Mercedes, Hamilton said he was still coming to terms with his fifth championship victory.

“Did I think that I’d be five-time world champion? Of course I dreamt about it but shoot, man, I dream a lot of things that don’t happen.

“It’s really hard to think that just six years ago I joined this team and I was one-time world champion and now I have four more. That’s not an insignificant number and it’s very, very hard if not almost impossible to grasp the magnitude of what those four mean.

“It’s weird because it’s almost like one kind of doesn’t really mean anything, it’s cool. Two, not too bad. Three is like, well, you’re kind of starting to do well.

“And then it’s really weird how in this sport and probably other sports as well it’s not until you have multiple that people really start to realise the strength in depth and the ability and the consistency and all these difficult things.”

Hamilton, who has won the championship in four of the last five seasons, said each of his five title so far had felt different.

“Winning the world championship is obviously an incredibly special thing and feeling,” he said. “But they all feel different in so many different ways.”

For the second year in a row, Hamilton clinched the title in Mexico despite struggling in the race. “It was, and has been for the last couple of years, a horrible race for me,” he said.

“I’ve got great support from the fans so it was a great weekend but the actual race felt terrible because we struggled with the tyres, and [the] previous year I got taken out. So this was kind of crazy to think I’m in Mexico, I had a difficult race the race before, still really close, and all of a sudden I’m world champion.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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71 comments on “Hamilton: People recognised my strength once I won multiple titles”

  1. Math don’t lie. HAM is now 25% better than Vettel, 250% better than Alonso, and 400% better than when he was McLaren.

    1. Reality don’t lie… that is all thanks to Mercedes…

      1. Yep. Senna was nothing without McLaren, Schumacher was a loser without Ferrari, and Clark couldn’t win a race without a Lotus.

        You’ve got to have a good car, a good team, a good driver, and a bit of luck to win an F1 championship.

        But a bad driver in a good car, with a good team, and a LOT of luck, still won’t win a championship.

        1. You’ve got to have a good car, a good team, a good driver, and a bit of luck to win an F1 championship.

          This is absolutely true

          But a bad driver

          Ferrari

          and a LOT of luck

          1999

          still won’t win a championship

    2. Math doesn’t lie, but statistics will say anything you want.

      1. In other ways, statistics dont lie either… You can interpret it as you wish… Like whether glass is half full or half empty, it all depends on your perspective…

  2. Well. F1 is a weird sport because the car is so important. Even Button is a world champion.

    If you look at the impressive stats Lewis got. You’ll find that when the complete new hybrid engine formula started, Lewis got a guaranteed minimal 2nd place for 80% of the season in 2014 2015 and 2016. Also in 2017 and 2018 he had the best car a lot of the time. And with the seasons getting longer and his car being extremely reliable. It’s pretty logical he’s having this many wins.

    But that’s F1. And Lewis is a F1 great because he’s one of the best drivers and therefore he is in the best car.

    1. Let’s not forget Vettel probably had the best car in 2018 (equally paced to Merc, but better reliability). And Vettel also had comparable machinery in 2017, so it’s not always about having the OUTRIGHT best car. Hamilton didn’t have the OUTRIGHT best car in 2008 either so let’s not be too hasty in writing everything off to the car.

      Of course, overall the strength of the car is the most important factor in F1, but when the competition is so tight, as per 2018 especially, the driver can make more of a difference. Vettel routinely made mistakes in 2018, Hamilton was more consistent & that’s why he won more races & the title.

      1. Lewis was in the best team by far and let’s not forget he was beaten by Max twice in a slower car.

        1. So he was beaten 2x by a driver who is highly regarded in a multi championship winning team, in races where the Mercedes was far from the best Package and that means what? I saw max beat The other all mighty Merc many times. But he only beat Hamilton a few times all season… I see it differently.

        2. Since he won 11 races out of 21, it means he was beaten 9 times if you ignore the DNF. Lewis was simply overall better than anyone else on the grid last year. Further, in championship fights, you focus on accumulating good points in each race which may mean not scrapping for every single position. Let Max win some if you are in front of Vettel. Wheel to wheel every time combat with a youngster with nothing to lose is not a championship strategy.

        3. “Lewis was in the best team by far and let’s not forget he was beaten by Max twice in a slower car.” Well everyteam/driver has their ups and downs. Max/team capitalized on them, and a bit of luck… Also Lewis win by using his brains… not his donkey between his legs…

    2. And Lewis is a F1 great because he’s one of the best drivers and therefore he is in the best car.

      This.
      Hamilton didn’t just ‘luck-in’ to a great car; Merc wanted him for a reason.

      Having said that Merc may have made a mistake in that they didn’t need to splash as much cash as they did. Rosberg was easily good enough to have won three titles in a row in that car. They didn’t need Hamilton at that point, and having him teamed with Rosberg created a lot of headaches. They could have gone after Perez instead and THAT would be an interesting alternative history. It could have been Hamilton’s career dying at McLaren instead of Alonso.

      1. I think not – Hamilton would have been a Redbull or Ferrari as Hamilton hasn’t repeatly burnt his bridges like Alonso and has proven to be loved by all his team – not just the boss brown nosing to make up for performance deficit in the car…..

        Who ever was the strongest driver in the Merc would be world champ the last five years – but I think just looking at that way takes away from how driver plays a part in car development, motivating everyone to achieve and delivering on the day – Rosberg had 3 seasons and Botas now two (and three next year) Hamilton only lost out once!

        Hamilton is a great, Vettel not so much – Schumacher was a great, Hakinen not so much….. every era has a great….

        Vettel has had 2 clear years h3 could challenge and all I can think about is his mistakes and throwing his toys out the pram. I think if Verstappen was in the Ferrari maybe he could’ve have taken the titles – as with competitive machinery I doubt we would have seen so many errors….

        1. You think Verstappen would beat Hamilton but Vettel would not? Have you not noticed that verstappen makes even more mistakes than Vettel? And he’s never even been under anywhere near the pressure that Vettel is under. The whole world watching, expectations are extremely high. Of course you’re entitled to your opinion . I think that people are being far too critical of Vettel not taking in account how difficult it is to beat Hamilton over a season the way he is currently driving. He is using his head in a way that has enabled him to maximize every opportunity without throwing away chunks of points out of panic.

      2. “Having said that Merc may have made a mistake in that they didn’t need to splash as much cash as they did. Rosberg was easily good enough to have won three titles in a row in that car. They didn’t need Hamilton at that point, and having him teamed with Rosberg created a lot of headaches. They could have gone after Perez instead and THAT would be an interesting alternative history. It could have been Hamilton’s career dying at McLaren instead of Alonso.”

        You’re assuming that had he stayed at McLaren, the would’ve been what it is now. Your comment only goes to solidify what he said. This whataboutery is just nonsense.

        1. It was Lewis who destroyed McLaren. He sucked the soul out of them. He was beaten by Alonso and Vettel when he had the fastest car.

          1. “He was beaten by Alonso and Vettel when he had the fastest car.” also the most unreliable car and a hated/heated/salty rivalry from massa! if ham didnt dnf due to car, he did due to massa often than not…

        2. Nice comment. Speculation is just speculation. It’s fun to do.
          I don’t see any reason to think that Hamilton being in that car instead of Alonso would have made any difference at all to McLaren’s performance.
          What is it with people who think that because you don’t worship at a driver’s altar then you must be a ‘hater’. The internet isn’t 100% polarised nutcases you know; just most of it.

        3. Had Hamilton stayed at McLaren two things would certainly not have changed. Paddy would still have left them with a dog of a car for 2014 and they were always going to get the Honda engine in 2015. Those two things have put McLaren where they are now. Or someone might argue that it was Lewis that sucked the life out of them but that’s the kind of thing you get BTL.

      3. Rosberg was easily good enough to have won three titles in a row in that car

        Once he had been paired with Hamilton. Rosberg learned a lot from Hamilton it’s not guaranteed he would have performed as well as he did if they weren’t teammates.

        1. What on earth are you on about… Hilarious how big a Hamilton-fan one can get really.. just assign everyone’s success and abilitys to just being close to the great Hamilton. Wow

  3. Happy 34th birthday to the champ

    1. I am sure he’s reading Racefans every day, especially on this day.

      1. You might wanna read what i wrote again

  4. Certainly the BTL respect has grown. This site is pretty knowledgeable BTL but there was still the best car, lucky, Button beat him over 3 seasons tedium to wade through. Max is getting the same kind of thing though as yet he hasn’t got Lewis’s stats to back up the grandiose claims about his undoubted talent.

    There’s 3 things that can make you great, stats, retirement or death. Lewis is in a fairly rare position, im thinking Messi, Lara, Lomu off the top of my head who were considered great long before retirement.

    1. I think plenty of sportspeople are considered great while still at the peak of their careers. In terms of racing, Schumacher was certainly considered a great (THE great, even) before his retirement was within view, and Senna was considered great before his death.

      1. Well theres 2 !!

        Im not sure you were around when they raced but certainly social media wasn’t and they were NOT considered great by everyone at the time, not by a long chalk. Maybe I should’ve added, ‘universally great’ to help you

        1. “tony mansell”

          i m not sure you were around when they “universally” considering who is great who is not? and if you were, i m not sure you were surveying everyone “universally” left and right their opinions about who is great/greater? pls take tinfoils off your BTL please… We are already TTL!

      1. Below The Line

        1. As in, in the comments?

          1. how dare you? In the comments?! We are probably the most reasonable bunch of individuals, *cough cough*

      2. You have to keep up with the on the line slang Keith!

        Glad you asked though, I had no idea either

        1. @johnmilk I’m trying to!

  5. “the strength in depth and the ability and the consistency and all these difficult things”

    Only to get totally whooped by Verstappen as soon as your car lost its dominant factor. This is all going to end in tears if Honda match the Mercedes PU.

    1. Oh so little minion!

  6. To be a multiple WDC you need a combination of a great car and the skill to drive it consistently well.

    Whilst I initially thought Hamilton had more luck in terms of car than most, his performance last season in particular has certainly shown just how good he is.

    I think his defeat in 2016 caused him to find another level, much the same way Vettel did after Webber almost beat him in 2010. His performance last season was stellar and I suspect he’ll be much the same in 2019 as I doubt Mercedes will failmto bring a good car and Bottas is good enough to force him to be on his game every race.

    While he remains in this sort of form, I don’t see any of the new “guns” bing able to beat him to a WDC unless the Merc is miraculously non-competitive.

  7. There’s no denying he’s a particularly good talent but he’s what, the only driver that’s ever had a race-winning car in every season he’s contested? That’s some stat. Also for what, three years, the Mercedes was so dominant it won every race except six of them? Again that’s an enormously signficant stat. With a car like that he had one hand on the trophy from the first race and only had to fight Rosberg to take it.

    Again no taking away from the guy as there’s no doubt he’s one of the best in the field, if not all time, but if Alonso made an art to being in the wrong place at the wrong time the one thing Hamilton learnt from him in 2007 was to do the opposite. After all Alonso does show you can be ‘the best in the world’ and still not get out of 11th place if the car’s not there.

    1. Don’t forget Vettel, because the only season he didn’t win a race was 2014 and Red bull won 3 races that year

      1. So what race did he win in 2016?

        1. Sorry, I forgot that one.

    2. Very simplistic argument. McLaren brought in Alonso to help them galvanise the team to produce a race winning car. He didn’t. Lewis was sometimes in dogs through his career that went onto be race winners that season. Im assuming that was all luck as well? In any case it ignores the outstanding fact from this season. Ferrari had an equal car, better in some races, and they got annihilated.

      Lots of factors go into a car and driver being a race winner. Just ask Bottas

    3. The whole winning every season thing is used both a stick to beat him and also a statistic to prove him as a great. It’s true that the vast majority of his career he’s had one of the top 3 cars but I think it would be more fair to say that he was a part of a race winning package rather than him simply having a race winning car.

      Even at the tail end of 2009 in Kovalainens hands the mclaren didn’t look like it had any right to be winning races but in Hamilton’s hands it won 2 and retired from the lead of one. The same could be said of the last 2 seasons if we look at some of Bottas’ performances. Overall you can’t win races like Hamilton has without consistently having a strong car, but I think that very often Hamilton has been the key component in turning it into a race winning package.

      1. @breesegp – well said.

  8. Jeffrey Powell
    7th January 2019, 13:01

    How good is Lewis, let me say first I am a fan. But to be supreme you need to out drive the rest of the field 99% of the time , not neccesarly win but prove you would have ,with even close to the best car, in virtually every race. In my 55 years of F1 I have only seen one driver that never left me in any doubt. I think I share that opinion with one of the greatest drivers ever , who raced against him and is still alive.

  9. Hamilton has evolved into a ridiculously rounded driver; devastatingly fast over one lap (see Singapore 2018 Q3), incredible race craft (see Italy 2018), without peer in the wet (see Brazil 2016, Germany 2018 and many others), and rarely makes any mistakes (see the entire 2018 season).

    There are some seriously weird comments on here, it’s hard to comprehend that they’re written by fans of motorsport. Yes he has a quick car, but he has a quick car because he’s worthy of that seat. You only have to watch him drive to see that he’s a very special talent and wholly deserving of his five titles.

    1. Humans are fickle. Even when it’s clear to see that the ONLY reason anyone is saying the Merc is “easily the best car” is because of what Hamilton is doing. Watch Bottas 75% of the time and it’s hard to argue against it being the 2nd to 3rd best package. You guys act like the others are chumps driving in f2 cars. No. These are teams that spend MILLION UPON MILLIONS to win and for Mercedes to win 5wcc in a row it’s not just because the engineers are better than the other teams. It’s the entire package and I will argue the the driver is easily the most important piece. I’m not at all surprised at how many refuse to give credit where it’s due. It’s human nature to dislike the best. I never liked the NE patriots or Tom Brady but I finally had to accept that he is the greatest QB I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot. Just like LH. There is no way any driver on the grid can rightfully argue that they are better at driving a Formula 1 car than Hamilton. Just ask Alonso who the best driver on the grid is. I think a drivers opinion who shared the track for the last 12 years has a respectable opinion . He rated Hamilton long before he won 5 WDC’s and he was spot on. He said Vettel is no Hamilton. How can we say he was wrong ?

  10. For me it is unfortunate that for LH it has become about numbers, and that to him the greater the numbers the greater the ‘status’ if you will. I’m not sure what ‘people’ he is talking about who didn’t recognize his talent or what have you until he achieved a second WDC and then a third etc etc. As we know from LH after this past season he has said he now wants to go after MS’s record number of WDC’s and then he’ll be the goat.

    I think what the entitled LH has lost sight of is that for many of us it is not about the numbers, as for eternity there will be F1 fans that will always consider certain drivers with far fewer numbers to be far greater eg. Fangio, Clark, Senna, etc etc etc even Villeneuve who never got to win a single WDC. LH has lost sight of the fact that it is not at all about the numbers and that indeed achieving one WDC in one’s career is something extremely special, especially considering the small number of WDC’s there are throughout the history of F1. What a shame LH has lost sight of that. I am absolutely sure that when he won his first WDC he was not thinking ‘ho hum, that’s kinda cool but…’

    In saying what he has, LH has denigrated F1 and it’s rich history by making it about the numbers, about quantity vs quality. I can’t say I’m surprised. Imho he became an entitled bloke starting with the hat throwing incident with Nico and the party mode mentality, the seven races in a row Nico then went on to win including the WDC the season during which LH made every effort to convince us it wasn’t that he was losing to Nico, it had to be that the team was favouring Nico.

    Sorry LH but I just can’t buy into your entitlement, nor will I ever think of you as the goat, no matter how many more numbers you achieve. Doesn’t mean that I don’t respect that you are a great driver, and amongst the greats, but goat for me goes far beyond just the numbers. By making it about the numbers you’ve slapped a lot of the other greats in the face, imho.

    1. Anybody with half a brain recognized Lewis’ talent as soon as he started taking it to Alonso from almost day #1. He seems to be off on one of his trips to Planet Lewis right now though (‘one kind-of doesn’t really mean anything’??). I hope he comes back soon.

      Incidentally, Max hasn’t won a WC and anyone who doesn’t reckon he’s an amazing talent isn’t worth listening to.

    2. It’s not him making it about the numbers. He’s talking about the way other people perceive his ability due to numbers.

      “It’s almost like one kind of doesn’t really mean anything” is obviously referring to how others see it (which is true), not how he sees it. The rest is the same – talking about the wider recognition the multiple titles gained him from other people. He even says it’s weird how numbers are required, in this and other sports, for (a depressing number of) people to appreciate the thing that really matters – ability.

      1. It’s not him making it about the numbers. He’s talking about the way other people perceive his ability due to numbers.

        Absolutely @neilosjames.

        More so, @robbie has a perfect grasp of the English language and understands what Lewis is saying perfectly well. Unfortunately, his latent dislike for the man means he will twist whatever Lewis says at the slightest opportunity.

        His bias is well know around here.

    3. In saying what he has, LH has denigrated F1 and it’s rich history by making it about the numbers, about quantity vs quality.

      @robbie – Really?? I have to say, you have some pretty serious issues that only urgent medical intervention can sort out.

      1. @kbdavies I actually realized yesterday that I had misinterpreted what LH was saying and in a conversation with KGN11 I admitted I was wrong, but I saw this morning that some of our remarks were deleted.

  11. AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
    7th January 2019, 15:38

    It’s weird because it’s almost like one kind of doesn’t really mean anything, it’s cool. Two, not too bad. Three is like, well, you’re kind of starting to do well.

    While I’m hardly the first to make the observation that Lewis has a knack for stirring up controversy (and judging by the comments in this thread, he has succeeded yet again), in this case he ain’t exactly wrong.

    How many people rate Keke Rosberg as one of the greats? Damon Hill? Jacques Villeneuve? Kimi? Jenson? Nico? Well, some do, of course (I happen to rate Nico pretty highly, for instance), but a lot don’t. Which brings us back to the point Lewis is making.

    Keke often gets dismissed as simply having been lucky. With Damon and Jacques (but in particular with Damon), people often say it’s because they had the best car by a mile. Kimi? According to “people,” he won it by default after McLaren royally shot themselves in the foot (something of a McLaren tradition). Jenson? Same story as with Damon and Jacques. Nico? Well, let’s not even get started on that one.

    The point is, it’s relatively easy for “people” to dismiss a racing driver who has only won the title once. And judging by the comments both here and elsewhere, certain people love doing exactly that.

    That becomes more difficult once a driver has won multiple titles. While there are many, many people who very obviously don’t like Lewis, only very few try to dismiss him as not great. Why? Because now that he’s won five titles, denying his status as a great is pretty hard to do.

    1. Or look it at another way, that it’s easier to worship a driver who’s been collecting trophies in the best car. Hence the hype surrounding Lewis. It makes him a safe bet in an ego oriented sport.

      We know this the way the media reports Lewis’ car not being the best whenever he’s beaten by the likes of Verstappen and Riccairdo, but suddenly he’s ‘the greatest’ when his car receives advanced updates.
      Lewis is flawed in that he’s never had a consistant season. The poor races he had at the begining of last season are forgotton due to the hype. Damon Hill was slaughtered for losing focus in one or two races a season. Such as Monza in 96 when he hit the same tire barrier as Schumacher but only Hill spun, Schumacher’s car was unaffected leading to accusations of Hill not being that great.

      1. “Lewis is flawed in that he’s never had a consistant season”

        Wait. What?

      2. Big Joe,

        Lewis has been clearly exceptional to proper racing fans since he was in cadet karts.

        Your hatred blinds you totally.

  12. The thing that annoys me a bit about this remark, is that reliability had such a role until mid nineties that to achieve 2 or 3 titles were much harder than nowadays, where the reliability is almost bullet proof. Nowadays, if you get the right car, or the winning car for the season, and drive solid races , you almost have guaranteed a title by the end of the year. Back then, a driver needed to drive consistently well for 10 years, to get 2 or 3 titles if he was also lucky. Right now, for me at least, these sequence of titles by Vettel and Hamilton having the best car for 3 or 4 years in a row doesn’t mean the same as Stewart, Lauda, Prost titles for example. Like someone said, should Lewis had remained at McLaren, we could be talking about the great Rosberg and his 4 titles. We all agreed that Kewis is one of the best from his generation if not the best, but it’s really hard still to consider him the greatest or one of the greatest to me. But it’s not Lewis fault if he did excellent career choices. In 20 years, I suppose that the fans will rate him higher than Alonso for example, and it’s not Lewis fault to have chosen the best cars to drive.

  13. Whatever chance this little wanna be pop star gets he downs McLaren. And when there’s something positive to say he thanks Mercedes.

    Can’t wait until he leaves F1.

    1. @BMF66

      That’s ‘little wanna be pop star’ and 5 times WDC to you. Deal with it and better times will be ahead for you, once he has retired with another title or two.

  14. The Lewis Hamilton of today has developed into the perfect combination of Senna’s driving ability, Schumacher’s engineering nous, and Prost’s intelligence. Anyone with the grey matter of a gnat should easily be able to come to this conclusion – otherwise their head buried deeply in the sands of cognitive dissonance.

    When you look at race pace in dry, rain, or mixed conditions, he is among the best. When you look at qualifying pace, car development, engineering nous, tyre management, car feedback, mental strength, emotional intelligence, and on track behaviour, etc, he is CERTAINLY among the best.

    And though some may match him in any of the above metrics, no one, i repeat, NO ONE comes out above Lewis Hamilton when all the metrics are added up.

    His wet weather skills are certainly better their either Schumacher, the original “rainmeister” or even Senna; and he has far more standout wet weather and qualifying drive than either of them. More so, his on track behaviour is miles ahead too. He has no history of intentionally cheating or driving into a competitor to win – something neither of the two mentioned above can boast of.

    He doesn’t generally have a “win at all costs “attitude (except Monza 2009). Again, something neither of the two mentioned above can boast about. In fact, this one skill went a long way to securing him the championship in 2018.

    In addition, he never had a contract based no.1 status, received bespoke tires, had a personal track for unlimited testing to secure any of his championships, nor got first divvy on new parts. He also beat the so called “tire whisperer” and “mixed conditions” master at his own game in 2012. He beat the so called “intellectual and “professor” of his generation in 2014 and 2015. He even beat the master of political machinations and maneuverings in 2007.

    He has gone head to head with 3 world champions and BEAT THEM ALL. And that is saying a lot.

    Love him or loath him, and irrespective of number of championships, it is time to acceptance Lewis Hamilton for what he truly is – one of the greatest F1 drivers of ALL time. Certainly the greatest of his generation (if not the greatest and most naturally gifted of all time).

    1. Lewis, is that you? Happy birthday:)

    2. Correct.

    3. Absolutely spot on!

  15. You seem to leave out he has had the most dominant car in his generation and his teammates weren’t exactly household names. Great he is but far from the greatest.

    1. @Nick

      I am guessing you are new to F1 from your comment, but to fill you in, Lewis won his first title in 2008 in a car that did not win the WCC, and he has had three world drivers champions as teammates.

    2. You must be new to F1.

      The Mercs of 2017 & 2018 were not dominant cars. Vettel’s car was just as good as Hamilton’s in 2018 and a near match in 2017

      Hamilton didn’t have a dominant car in 2008 either.

      1. That is 3 separate years (and occasions) he didn’t have a “dominant” car but still won the championship.

        3 separate times. Please let that sink in.

  16. Max will blow Lewis out in same car , use to love him, don’t like him anymore , just don’t know why

  17. Almost every F1 champions were dark knights on the track. They had no respect other than for themselves. Move or get moved. Ham is extraordinary no doubt. But he could also be a gentlemen on the track because there was no real match untill half of the season in 2018. Great champion of course but I am curious how he reacts if he is really challenged by a fast dare devil. Most likely the stewards will have an important role.

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