Tag: mercedes

George Russell leads Mercedes One-Two in the Las Vegas Grand Prix 

Skye Collacott WilliamsonLeave a comment

George Russell dominated the Las Vegas Grand Prix from pole to podium, securing Mercedes their 60th one-two finish and setting a new milestone in Formula One history with seven drivers winning multiple races in a single season. 

Russell earned his redemption win in Las Vegas after the one pit-stop strategy at the Belgium Grand Prix in which he was later disqualified in the Mercedes one-two for an underweight car. 

In Las Vegas, he won his third Grand Prix equalising title contender Lando Norris. 

Mercedes Formula One Driver, Russell said in a statement: “We had great pace throughout and we were comfortable in the lead.” 

Lewis Hamilton’s remarkable drive from tenth to second helped Mercedes earn their first one-two finish since Russell’s first Grand Prix win at São Paulo in 2022. 

The Las Vegas podium might mark the final Mercedes one-two for Hamilton and Russell before Hamilton’s highly anticipated move to Scuderia Ferrari. 

Hamilton has achieved 55 out of 60 Mercedes one-two podiums. 

https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.jschart visualization

The Mercedes cars dominated the free practice weekend, with good timings from Hamilton until practice three, and a continuous top three for Russell. 

Russell dominated by leading 49 of 50 laps, while Hamilton showcased his skills by setting 18 fastest laps as he climbed from tenth to second. 

Hamilton overtook faster cars to drive beside his teammate, including fellow Briton McLaren driver Lando Norris, and Red Bull Championship winner Max Verstappen. 

Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin said in a statement: “Lewis meanwhile outperformed all our simulations today to achieve P2.” 

During the three-week Formula One break, there was a debate over Hamilton’s shelf life from Mercedes, with his departure to Scuderia Ferrari after nine years. 

Hamilton set two new records: his 202nd podium finish and becoming the first driver on the podium at 36 out of 38 different tracks. 

His outstanding performance won the fan vote for Driver of the Day in the same Grand Prix that crowned Max Verstappen World Champion. 

https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.jschart visualization

The World Championship title has been a long battle this season with multiple race winners, and McLaren having the dominant car. 

Norris placed sixth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix which made it mathematically impossible for the title fight. 

Max Verstappen placed only one position ahead of Norris earning him the points difference for the 2024 World Drivers Championship. 

Verstappen’s fourth World Drivers Championship title equals him with Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. 

Hamilton and Michael Schumacher maintain the highest amount with seven titles. 

Despite the title loss, Norris continues his fight for second place in the Formula One Championship against Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

https://twitter.com/hamiltonprop_/status/1859255665195208816

The mix of the Mercedes drivers at the Las Vegas Grand Prix and the Red Bull World Driver Championship win disprove the long-held belief the faster car always wins in Formula One. 

Norris, driving the fastest car with help from his teammate Oscar Piastri, continued to lead the Constructor Championship for McLaren Mercedes with 608 points. 

Ferrari remains at 584 points with both Red Bull and Mercedes far behind. 

https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.jschart visualization

In the last races of the 2024 season, Hamilton remains the last McLaren driver to win the World Drivers Championship back in 2008. 

As the 2024 season nears the end with only two races left, Mercedes’ resurgence and Hamilton’s endurance in his abilities leave fans and critics wondering what lies ahead for the team without Hamilton and how Hamilton will drive in the Ferrari. 

https://twitter.com/chrissyoriginal/status/1860118073585619274

Sir Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari: Power Moves and Crucial Clauses.

Skye Collacott WilliamsonLeave a comment

First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Editor-in-Chief.

Date marked: 16th February 2024

It was a moment that people could only create mere rumours about, a moment that changed the history of Formula 1 and a moment that left Hamilton fans feeling surprised.


Sir Lewis Hamilton will be joining Ferrari in the 2025 season.


The significance of this moment cannot be overstated nor overshadowed by the idea that moving teams is as simple as football. Sir Lewis Hamilton joined McLaren’s young driver programme in 1998, leading him to make Formula 1 history as the first black driver in 2007, and he continued to race with McLaren until 2012. Since then, he has driven for Mercedes and paved the way for various programmes. Mercedes has the highest diversity and the largest number of women employed. Many regarded that Hamilton would never leave Mercedes after winning seven world championships with them.


The move to Ferrari is not as peaceful as just changing cars and mechanics. It also leads Ferrari to no longer renew their contract with Carlos Sainz. Formula 1 teams all have a first driver and a second driver; for Ferrari, that is Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who replaced Sebastian Vettel when he retired, and for Mercedes, that is Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. While Leclerc is a phenomenal driver, one cannot imagine a seven-time world champion would settle for a second driver. Russell needs to be an experienced driver to be considered for the first driver.


It begs the question, why did Hamilton move to Ferrari? Some have pointed out similar patterns to his move from McLaren to Mercedes; both took place one year before regulations changed. Others have decided that Sir Lewis Hamilton is a risk taker, and after the nightmares from the 2023 season with the car from hell, one cannot fault him.
Charles Leclerc and Sir Lewis Hamilton got disqualified together earlier in the 2023 season (read the article here).
Leclerc had noted in a previous interview that when asked what he looks for in a teammate, he answered: ‘Hello, Lewis’.
Similarly, both Vettel and Hamilton have referred to seeing themselves in Leclerc. While Hamilton is a supportive driver to the newer and younger drivers, he has always been extra supportive of Leclerc.


During the Las Vegas opening, Hamilton noted that he is a better teammate and driver than in 2016, vaguely referencing the situation named ‘Brocedes’ with Nico Rosberg. The two teammates and best friends collided, resulting in a crash in 2016, leading to a massive fallout in which Rosberg won the championship.


While I disagree that age matters in sports, Sir Lewis Hamilton will be forty when he drives for Ferrari. It was always considered that Hamilton would stay with Mercedes for the rest of his driving career. However, it was announced they had only signed another two-year contract with Hamilton, possibly due to his age. Thus, Ferrari pounced on the opportunity to sign a seven-time world champion. As far as fans were aware, Carlos Sainz was, without a doubt, resigned from Ferrari. Interestingly, Ferrari has yet to win a world championship since 2007.

As Max Verstappen (first driver for Redbull) notes, the upcoming season may be an ‘awkward’ challenge for Sir Lewis Hamilton while he stays with a team he plans to leave next season. I like to hope Mercedes and Toto Wolff will continue to treat Sir Lewis Hamilton well in their goodbyes of the driver. The upcoming 2024 season begins at the start of March. Until then, we will just have to wait.

Will Sir Lewis Hamilton’s power move be a big enough risk to earn him his rightful eight-time world champion title?

Bibliography-

Benson, Andrew. ‘Lewis Hamilton: Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur says signing ‘huge opportunity’ for team.’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68284596 . Published by BBC Sport, 14th February 2024.

Formula One. ‘Leclerc offers reaction to Hamilton being signed by Ferrari as his new team mate’. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.leclerc-offers-reaction-to-hamilton-being-signed-by-ferrari-as-his-new-team.7JfyqJIvP8KI1JXC8BnyDE.html . Published by Formula One, 13th February 2024.

Jackson, Kieran. ‘Max Verstappen reacts to ‘awkward’ Lewis Hamilton move to Ferrari’. https://www.independent.co.uk/f1/max-verstappen-lewis-hamilton-ferrari-mecedes-f1-b2497328.html . Published by The Independent, 16th February 2024.

Sky Sports. ‘Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes driver ’emotional’ preparing for final season with team ahead of Ferrari move.’ https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13071476/lewis-hamilton-mercedes-driver-emotional-preparing-for-final-season-with-team-ahead-of-ferrari-move . Published by Sky Sports, 14th February 2024.

Are the FIA, Once Again, Targeting Sir Lewis Hamilton?

Skye Collacott WilliamsonLeave a comment

First Published via HUB Magazine when I was Editor-in-Chief.

Date marked: 17th November 2023.

Recent FIA punishments for Lewis Hamilton beg the question of is Sir Lewis Hamilton is being personally targeted. From last year’s nose earring fine to crossing the track €50,000 fine to a disqualification. 

Many have suggested that Sir Lewis Hamilton is held to a higher standard as a role model. In comparison to team sports such as football and rugby, Formula One presents itself as a rather personal sport. One might say the cars are an extension of the drivers themselves. While Sir Lewis Hamilton has a team behind him, he is the one who captures the blame in countless news articles. 

In most recent events, Sir Lewis Hamilton finished in second place, merely two point two seconds behind Max Verstappen in Austin and he was later disqualified. The FIA investigated only four out of the seventeen winning qualifying cars, of which half failed the floor regulations. Max Verstappen (Redbull) and Lando Norris (Mclaren) were cleared but Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was disqualified as well. Half the cars that were checked failed regulations it is confusing to why the FIA would not check more cars. Furthermore, the Mercedes and Ferrari teammates’ cars were not checked, did the FIA just not bother checking? Simply from Mercedes and Ferrari, this was an accident of excessively worn-out floors. 

The regulations state that the floor plank holes should only be worn from one mm to nine mm across the weekend. However, given the nature of a sprint race, they had not been able to measure planks since Friday Afternoon. Thus, it is not surprising that they failed the regulations, yet this does not reflect upon Sir Lewis Hamilton himself. 

In comparison, in the Qatar Sprint race, only one car was checked, further in the Qatar GP only three cars were checked and furthermore, none were checked after the Japanese GP. It all seems somewhat bizarre. 

Sir Lewis Hamilton continuously speaks up against the FIA (read the article on the FIA banning political statements at Formula 1 and the effect this could have had on Sir Lewis Hamilton). 

Sir Lewis Hamilton has recently spoken against the FIA’s increasing of fines. The FIA decided after twelve years to increase the maximum fine amount. Not merely by double nor by treble but by quadrupling the amount. This means they can now fine drivers up to one million euros (£871k). Considering Sir Lewis Hamilton is always on the receiving end of these fines it’s no wonder he spoke against this: 

“There’s a lot of money in this whole industry and there’s a lot more that we need to do in terms of creating better accessibility, better diversity, more opportunities for people who don’t or wouldn’t normally have a chance to get into a sport like this – so many causes around the world. That’s the only way they’ll get that million from me.” 

Sir Lewis Hamilton paths the way for change in Formula One and it’s a shame he is constantly met with resistance. 

Bibliography-

Formula One. ‘Hamilton and Leclerc disqualified from United States Grand Prix for technical breach’. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-hamilton-and-leclerc-disqualified-from-united-states-grand-prix-for.10nvuyvEPfMgoeWxWOhw0a.html .Published by Formula One, 23rd October 2023.

Jogia, Saajan. ‘F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Makes Strong Statement After Huge FIA Rule Change’. https://www.si.com/fannation/racing/f1briefings/news/f1-news-lewis-hamilton-makes-strong-statement-after-huge-fia-rule-change-sj4 . Published by Fannation, 20th October 2023.

Kew, Matthew. ‘The can of worms opened by Hamilton and Leclerc’s F1 US GP disqualifications’. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-can-of-worms-opened-by-hamilton-and-leclercs-f1-us-gp-disqualifications/10536696/ . Published by Auto Sport, 24th October 2023.

Maher, Thomas. ‘FIA make Lewis Hamilton stance clear after personal attack accusations’. https://www.planetf1.com/news/fia-stance-accusations-lewis-hamilton-attack . Published by Planet F1, 18th October 2023.