As Formula One prepares for what has become its annual fall voyage to the United States, Lewis Hamilton is amidst the most successful and controversial season of his career.
Team turmoil aside, Lewis Hamilton on brink of F1 World Championship
Despite a season spent feuding with his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton is closing in on a second Formula One championship.
Clive Mason
While Hamilton has won nine grand races, including four straight heading into Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, much of the talk this season hasn’t focused on his bid to win a second World Championship.
Most often, the spotlight has been on inner-team politics and the dynamic between Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. Several times in 2014 the two have had incidents on the track, often overshadowing the otherwise wildly triumphant season Mercedes has undertaken with the constructors title clinched and its drivers sitting 1-2 in the driver standings.
“Undoubtedly it makes the sport exciting,” Hamilton said in a phone interview with SB Nation. “To see an actual rivalry within the team excites people. To see us battling things out I think has been good.”
Numerous technical revisions before the start of the year stunted the dominance of Team Red Bull, which had won four consecutive driver and constructors titles. With the balance tilted squarely in its favor, Mercedes capitalized by winning 13 of 16 grand prixs.
Yet while it became apparent Mercedes was operating on another plane, less clear was whether Hamilton (English) or Rosberg (German) would lead the team. Unlike most Formula One operations, Mercedes hadn’t designated a No. 1 driver and would instead let Hamilton and Rosberg determine things on the track.
That decree has produced the most contentious team interplay since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were McLaren teammates in the 1980s.
A once amicable relationship between Hamilton and Rosberg, which dates to their time together as teens in karts, has deteriorated.
“When you’re fighting a guy within your team all your strengths and weaknesses are shown to him,” Hamilton said. “In the sense you both can see each other’s data, which counts for a lot. If I go out and set fast time -- I’ve found the fastest line, the best grip -- all that is downloaded and my teammate will see that.”
Things came to a head in August during the Belgium Grand Prix. A move many criticized as reckless saw Rosberg make contact with leader Hamilton, effectively knocking him out of the race. What had been a simmering rivalry suddenly boiled over with Mercedes officials decrying Rosberg’s tactics.
Beyond the turmoil, Belgium had another consequence of significance. With Hamilton scoring no points and Rosberg placing second, Hamilton fell 29 points behind his teammate, making a second championship seem unlikely.
But able to put the controversy behind him, Hamilton hasn’t lost since Spa, with successive victories following in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Russia. That stretch has vaulted Hamilton to the top of the standings, 17 points clear of Rosberg.
A win Sunday would give the Englishman five consecutive and the 32nd of his career, breaking a tie with Nigel Mansell for most all-time among British drivers. More importantly, it would move Hamilton another step closer to a coveted second championship.
“I wouldn’t change how the season’s gone for the world,” Hamilton said. “I wouldn’t want a season where you’re always finishing first -- I like that we’ve had some difficult races. Whatever you throw at me, I’m ready to take it.”
