RACINGAWARDS 2019
InJanuary,beforeawheelhad turned in anger,
Mercedestechnical director James Allison said
somethingrather telling aboutLewis Hamilton.
“At the beginning of theyear I think he is ‘feeling
out’ our strengths, the opposition’s strengths
and ourrespective weaknesses, but he
hasn’t really got his enemy in his crosshairs.
Thenas t he firstfew races unfold and the
pressureof the championship ramps uphe
gets stronger andstronger.”
As Formula 1 descended on Barcelonafor the
Spanish Grand Prix and the fifth round of the
world championship, the drivers’ points table
looked like this: first,Valtteri Bottas, 87 points;
and then Hamilton, on 86 points. The leader’s
combative new approach prompted paddock
wagsto dub him ‘Bottas 2.0’ and he looked
to be Hamilton’s biggest threat.
But thenLewis stepped it up agear,just as Allison had predicted. Hamilton won in
Spain, and then Monaco, Canada and France –
four consecutive victories.Two morefollowed
before the summer break, and he burst his
team-mate’s bubble.
WhileFerrari made a late-season flourish with
CharlesLeclerc winning in Spa and Monza and
SebastianVettel taking his first win inover a
year at Singapore, Hamiltonkept out of trouble
and kept racking up the points.
Mexico was arguably his strongest drive of
the year – nursing his tyres while maintaining
a brilliant pace –to set up clinching the title in
the US GP. In the aftermath of his achievement,
Hamilton talked about the championship
(his fifth with Mercedes and sixthoverall, now
just one short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time
record) in the context of his career.
“I am working on a masterpiece,” he said,LewisHamilton
Mercedes
DRIVER OF
THE YEAR
100 F1 RACING JANUARY 2020PICTURES
:GLENN DUNBAR
;PA
UL RIPKE