Lewis Hamilton left his previous team McLaren in 2012 after winning the drivers’ championship with them in 2008. The Brit left the team to breathe new life into his career, which was in decline in the early 2010s.
Lewis Hamilton is well known in the English-speaking world today. With seven World Championship victories in his luggage, the Briton is statistically the most successful driver in the history of the sport. In 2008 he won his first title in the sport with McLaren, making it the first black man to win an F1 World Championship.
Not all was well in the McLaren garage after his first title win. From 2009 to 2012, the Briton only managed fourth place in the drivers’ championship. The 36-year-old McLaren experienced many mechanical problems during this period, often abandoning him when it was needed most.
OTD: 2006, 21 year old Lewis Hamilton was confirmed as Fernando Alonso’s teammate at McLaren for the following season and the rest, they say, is history
OTD: 2006, 21-year-old Lewis Hamilton was confirmed as Fernando Alonso’s teammate at McLaren for the following season and the rest, they say, is history https://t.co/5viabiGJMM
While it is not entirely clear why the British driver left the team in 2012, many speculate that this was due to Hamilton’s desire to do less advertising and “grow up”. F1 legend Niki Lauda is said to have convinced Hamilton to leave McLaren and switch to Mercedes. Lauda recalled:
“When [Michael] Schumacher didn’t get the Mercedes team up and running for three years, and you [Lewis Hamilton] The next year you will be much better, it will have a huge impact on your personality, and people will rate you much higher. In the end, it convinced him that the challenge is what he wants to do. “
However, in a recently released social media video, Lewis Hamilton claimed he was brought in to Mercedes to try to get the team out of midfield and help them win titles in the future. He said:
“The team wasn’t up there at the time. My goal was to work with them and help them eventually win a world championship. And then we won the championship next year. “
Mercedes won its first Constructors’ title in 2014 and has never looked back since winning it every year.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have a dominant partnership
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes, with former teammate and world champion Jenson Button claiming in late 2012 that it was “not the right decision”. However, the Stevenage boy cemented his legacy as one of the greatest of all time with the Brackley team, who have won six titles in nine years.
Mercedes W05 – Paddy Lowe, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Toto Wolff – #Jerez, Spain 2014 # F1 http://t.co/0xYtXUDXqs
With the help of the Briton, Mercedes has won the constructors trophy every year since 2014. Despite the lack of tradition, Mercedes is one of the most successful designers in sport.
The 36-year-old nearly broke Michael Schumacher’s record for most titles won by a single driver in 2021. In the last round of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December 2021, however, he only narrowly lost to Max Verstappen.
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With many optimistic of Lewis Hamilton’s return to the sport in 2022, this could be the year the Briton finally breaks the age-old record and truly becomes the most successful driver in the sport.
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