As a seven-time Formula 1 world champion, Lewis Hamilton should already be a ten-time title winner, but what are the three world championships he still has on the table?
It will be a long time before the dust from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 has settled.
The way in which the conditions were created to give Max Verstappen an opportunity to overtake Hamilton on the final lap will be debated for years to come.
Hamilton, who wanted to break the record for most F1 world championships with his eighth crown, was contested by Red Bulls Verstappen.
But Hamilton’s chance to break Michael Schumacher’s world championship record is already there.
Hamilton should have traveled to Abu Dhabi as the ten-time F1 world champion.
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But what are those “missing” three Hamilton World Championships?
In what years should Lewis Hamilton have won the crown for the seven world championships he has already won?
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Lewis Hamilton World Championship
- 2008 – McLaren
- 2014 – Mercedes
- 2015 – Mercedes
- 2017 – Mercedes
- 2018 – Mercedes
- 2019 – Mercedes
- 2020 – Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton lost the World Cup
The first title Hamilton lost was in 2007 – his debut season in F1.
With 107 points he drove to the final in Brazil.
McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso was on 103, while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was underdog with 100 points.
These were the days of 10 points for a win.
In the race before, Hamilton could have become the first rookie F1 world champion in China.
Tension within McLaren was high as Alonso’s relationship with the team fell apart towards the end of the season.
Careful not to give Alonso a preferred strategy over Hamilton, McLaren kept the then 22-year-old out on badly worn intermediate tires.
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When he finally pitted, he slipped pathetically into the gravel and retired when Raikkonen won.
The next time in Sao Paulo, Hamilton’s race got worse and worse.
He was overtaxed by Alonso at the start and wanted to regain his position immediately, but was pushed a long way by the Spaniard at Turn 4.
This dropped him in order until a gear gremlin struck which cost him 25 seconds.
When he got back on track, Hamilton needed fifth place to take the title from Raikkonen.
He could only work his way up to seventh place on the lap and lost in one of the closest F1 world championships of all time.
Raikkonen took 110 points, Hamilton 109 and Alonso also 109.
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Spain crash causes title pain in 2010
Hamilton traveled to the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale, still battling for his number of world championships – after winning his first in 2008.
He was 24 points behind the leader Alonso with 221 points, 25 have now been awarded for a win.
On that day, Hamilton would finish second behind Sebastian Vettel – who became the youngest world champion of all time.
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The McLaren driver finished 16 points behind Vettel and one race earlier in the season cost him his second World Championship win.
At the Spanish Grand Prix in May, Hamilton finished second behind Mark Webber.
On lap 65 of 66, Hamilton crashed at Turn 3.
The McLaren had suffered a tire damage caused by the failure of the left front wheel rim – Hamilton threw into the barrier.
He lost 18 points that day as Alonso and Vettel each received three extra points when they finished second and third, respectively.
The tables below show what happened in one of the closest F1 World Championships of all time and what would have happened if Hamilton had actually finished P2 that day.
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Current 2010 F1 World Championship
- 1. – Sebastian Vettel – 256 points
- 2nd – Fernando Alonso – 252
- 3. – Mark Webber – 242
- 4th – Lewis Hamilton – 240
When Lewis Hamilton finished second in the Spanish Grand Prix
- 1. – Lewis Hamilton – 258 points
- 2. – Sebastian Vettel – 253
- 3rd – Fernando Alonso – 249
- 4. – Mark Webber – 242
Hamilton also suffered a streak of three DNFs in four races towards the end of the season in Hungary, Italy and Singapore.
Had Hamilton won in 2010, he would have celebrated three F1 World Championships in his first four years in F1 – he would have won in 2007 too.
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The lost crown to Nico Rosberg
Hamilton’s world championship fight with Nico Rosberg between 2014 and 2016 is legendary.
The two Mercedes “team-mates” were equipped with the best car, as the title turned into a one-on-one battle.
Hamilton won in 2014 and 2015, but Rosberg came out peppy in ’16.
He won the first four races of the season and had a total of nine wins.
Hamilton actually took 10 wins that season but was left behind with five points by Rosberg in the end.
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While Hamilton had some terrible reliability issues in 2016, he also has to bear his share of the blame.
In China and Russia he suffered engine problems.
This resulted in Belgium starting from behind for new engines – one of which slammed memorable in Malaysia while in the lead.
However, the engine failures alone did not cost Hamilton to extend his 2016 World Cup.
In Australia, Bahrain and Italy he defended the pole position with bad starts.
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Hamilton finished second behind Rosberg in Melbourne and Monza, while he finished only third in Sakhir – hampered by damage after an incident at Turn 1 with Valtteri Bottas.
In these three races alone it was a 48-point world championship swing in Rosberg’s favor.
Throw in the wipeout with Rosberg in Spain and fifth in Azerbaijan with engine timing issues, Hamilton left a pile of points on the table.
It was this loss to Rosberg in 2016 that spurred Hamilton to more world championships.
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He counted four times in a row between 2017 and 2020 to join Schumacher at the top of this particular tree.
The chances are good that Hamilton will not come to 10 F1 world championships as a driver now.
But he can still use the pain of losing to Verstappen in 2021 as motivation to take his ’22 title.
Not that the 103-time Grand Prix winner needs motivation …
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