Lewis Hamilton

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F1 United States Grand Prix: Two-Stop Two-Step

f1-2014-usa-lewis-hamiltonNico Rosberg might have started the race on pole but he wasn’t able to finish on the point. Despite a late charge from the German, it was Lewis Hamilton who won his 10th race of the 2014 season and became the winningest British driver in Formula One history in only his 7th season in the top flight of international motorsport.

However, the race was really only a B-plot to this weekend’s story. The three weeks leading up to the United States Grand Prix saw two of the 11 teams on the grid go into administration and fail to turn up for this weekend’s race. In fact, neither team is expected to return in 2014 and may not be back in 2015. The weekend’s real story is the state of the sport and the financial viability for the whole grid and not the mainstays at the sharp end.

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F1 Russian Grand Prix: From Russia, No Love

f1-2014-russia-hamilton-checkered-flagFor the first time in 100 years, Russia held a Grand Prix motor race and for the first time, it was Formula One racing in Russia. And while the Bond film might be called From Russia With Love, there is no love lost between the two chief protagonists in the 2014 F1 World Drivers’ Championship. The fierce rivalry between the two led to a spectacular first corner confrontation that was the race’s only memorable moment as Lewis Hamilton held his nerve and picked up the win in Russia.

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F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Rain, Rain, Go Away

f1-2014-japan-hamiltonHeading into this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, all the talk was about the weather and whether it would allow for the race to be run at all let alone to the 75% mark where full points would be awarded. The race made it four laps past the 75% mark, completing 44 of the scheduled 53 laps. When the race was red flagged and ruled complete, Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner but no one was focused on that.

A couple of laps prior, Jules Bianchi lost control in the deteriorating conditions and hit a car recovery tractor. As of writing, Bianchi is in an ICU in Japan after surgery for a head injury suffered in the collision.

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F1 Singapore Grand Prix: Stop. Spanner Time.

Just when you thought that none of the luck at Mercedes was going Lewis Hamilton’s way, his championship chances got a massive boost in Singapore. When the cars formed up on the grid, it looked like it was going to be another week of Hamilton slowly chipping away at Nico Rosberg’s championship lead. Instead, Rosberg suffered a massive failure before the formation lap. That handed the win and the championship lead to Hamilton.

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F1 Italian Grand Prix: I Am My Own Worst Enemy

f1-2014-italy-hamilton-checkered-flagRegardless of the drama of the Belgian Grand Prix, this season has been all about the battle of the Mercedes teammates. Nico Rosberg might be leading the championship right now but he still has fewer wins than teammate Lewis Hamilton. He also has fewer retirements than Lewis which is why he’s in the Championship lead.

But that doesn’t mean that Rosberg is untouchable. Just because luck and speed has been on his side for most of the season doesn’t mean that the championship is his. All it took was one big slip up for Rosberg to throw away the lead of this race and hand momentum back to Hamilton.

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F1 Belgian Grand Prix: The First Rule of Motorsport

Does anybody know what the first rule of motorsport is? DON’T TAKE OUT YOUR TEAMMATE! When you’re driving for a team, the worst thing that you can do is to take out your teammate. It doesn’t matter if it’s accidental or intentional, you won’t win any new friends in your garage.

But that’s exactly what happened in the Belgian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg clipped Lewis Hamilton on an aborted overtaking move into Les Combes which punctured the Brit’s back tyre and ripped off the German’s front-wing endplate. The fracas resulted in both Mercedes being taken out of contention for the win and the season’s only other race winner, Daniel Ricciardo, picking up his third win of the season.

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F1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Even a Blind Circuit Designer Finds a Nut

Sometimes, all you need is a little luck to put on a good race. A combination of changing conditions, multiple safety cars, tyre strategy and DRS made for the best Hungarian Grand Prix ever and the best finish to a race this season since the last time the guy who won this race won a race. That man would be Daniel Ricciardo. Just like his maiden win at the Canadian Grand Prix, Ricciardo made a late charge through the field to pick up well-deserved surprise win.

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F1 British Grand Prix: All You Need is Luck

f1-2014-britain-hamilton-victoryAs the old saying goes, sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good. Lewis Hamilton would certainly tell you that after the season that he’s had so far. Heading to Silverstone, he’s had Mercedes’ only two DNFs along with a 2nd in Monaco because of a yellow flag caused by his teammate, Nico Rosberg.

This time, it was Rosberg who was bitten by bad luck. His first retirement of the season cleared the way for Hamilton to be the one to take advantage. With Rosberg suffering a gearbox failure, it was Hamilton who picked up the win in his home Grand Prix.

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F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Gone in 60 Seconds

f1-2014-spain-lewis-hamilton-eddie-jordanOver the last four years, Formula One fans complained about the dull dominance of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel as they won four-straight Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships with numerous race wins along the way. Before that, there was five straight years of Ferrari dominance with Michael Schumacher leading the way.

This season, things are shaping up to be worse than the Red Bull / Vettel years and approaching Schumacher / Ferrari levels of dominance. Lewis Hamilton won his fourth-straight race after retiring from the pole in the other race in what is shaping up to be a dreadfully dull year for Formula One.

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F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Isn’t This When We Start Complaining?

f1-2014-china-hamilton-podiumThe only exciting part of this race was the banging and crashing at the start. For the third consecutive Grand Prix, it was Lewis Hamilton who won the race. Without an interruption from the safety car, Hamilton stormed away with his largest margin of the victory of the season. At least the race officials did something to keep us on our toes.

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