Lewis Hamilton: 2014 World Champion

As the teams unpacked for the first winter test in Jerez back in January there was already a perception that Mercedes possessed an advantage. Quite how big that was had yet to be determined, but there had been rumours circulating for months that 2014 would be the year of the Silver Arrows. Their power unit was meant to be way ahead of Renault’s or Ferrari’s and before he left Ross Brawn had brought in a number of top technical people that had been working on this seasons all new regulations for a couple of years, they were well prepared.

Go back a few years further to 2012, Lewis Hamilton had a tough decision to make. One which would likely shape his career and the success he’d have in the future. At this point in time he was sitting in what was developing into the fastest car of the season, the McLaren MP4/27, a car that brought him four victories.

Perhaps one of the factors that Lewis came to consider was that he should have had at least another three and be fighting for the championship with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. That these losses were not down to him, but two down to basic operational errors by the team, perhaps made him consider a new era.

When he entered Formula 1 in 2007, he broke apart the establishment and did things no rookie had managed in years. He took it to his double champion team mate Alonso and damn near almost won the title in his first year. He did win in 2008, but it was a season that saw errors creeping in. When McLaren gave him a car that couldn’t defend his title, he went all out, but still it felt like the near perfect driver of 2007 couldn’t match up to the expectations.

2011 he fell apart, he admitted he was not in a good place, no other driver seems to have been quite as honest as Lewis to admit that. But he came back stronger in 2012, more consistent even with still tempestuous outbursts such as tweeting secret telemetry in Belgium as Jenson Button outclassed him over the weekend.

McLaren often gave him a good car, but they also let him down too. This was a team he had grown up with, parented him through junior formulae and helped to crown him world champion. But he was restricted by the team, not allowed to be who he wanted to be, perhaps he felt still treated a bit like a child.

Mercedes in 2012 had started positively, but were falling behind as the season progressed. But the new hybrid power regulations had already been agreed for 2014, and Ross Brawn and subsequently Niki Lauda sat with Lewis and explained the Mercedes plan for the future. The choice was simple; to stay at home or to flee the nest and become his own person?

As he sat in the Mercedes W05 in January 2014 and went out for those first exploratory laps, he knew he made the right choice, he was sitting in the best car by far, one which when pushed could lap a second quicker than anything else out there quite easily. This was going to be a year of domination for Hamilton, the quickest driver out on the grid.

But not everyone thought this. In his Karting years he was team mate to Nico Rosberg. He often had the beating of the German, and Lewis knew going head to head with Nico, it was he would win, who would ultimately triumph. However, Rosberg was initially favoured by many, the new regulations were said to favour the thinking driver, to manage these new fragile power units, the fuel restrictions and the tyres.

In 2013, their first year as Mercedes team mates, they were often equal, so Hamilton scored the most points and was the best qualifier but Rosberg had actually finished ahead more often when they both reached the chequered flag and had scored one victory more while he positively outclassed Lewis in the latter stages of the season.

Rosberg learns and consumes new information and experiences and absorbs them into his mind to use again. He learns and evolves as a driver that perhaps Lewis sometimes struggled with relying on his natural ability. Rosberg was over shadowed at points in that season, but then came back stronger.

So in the cold winter months of 2014, just as Lewis knew he had a car to take the title with, Nico thought exactly the same, this was his chance for championship glory.

Hamilton started out with pole position in Australia but was out within a few laps due to a technical failure, Rosberg won. He was obviously disappointed but it was just the first race and he knew he was better than Rosberg, and proved it by reeling off four straight victories including two races where he was the slower on race day than his team mate.

Then came Monaco and he realised Rosberg had learnt and would deploy tactics that might be called desperate, might be called calculated. Going down an escape road that brought out the yellow flags denying Lewis an opportunity to snatch pole back was deemed a mistake by the stewards but for most of the rest of the world looked anything but.

Lewis seemed rattled especially as Mercedes did not sanction Rosberg at all. He lost in the race, retired in Canada, made a mistake in qualifying in Austria and then at Silverstone too. This Mercedes, the car which should be giving him his second title was letting him down and then he was pushing too hard to make up for it.

He won the British Grand Prix, but more technical failures in Germany and Hungary qualifying left him charging from the back. Incredibly after a safety car in the Hungarian race he finished ahead of Rosberg to take third, despite a team order asking him to let Nico through which he argued successfully against. But this wasn’t how it should be, he should be winning, not fighting back from technical trouble and against a team mate who would arguably bend the rules. 

Any time he fought back, Rosberg would be just behind or come back stronger.

After the summer break came Belgium and possibly the decisive moment of the season. Lewis, though he had grown as a person and looked more focused than ever since he left McLaren was still open to bouts of outspokenness, of feeling like the world was against him, pushing him into a siege mentality. The car let him down more than Rosberg, the team did nothing to Nico after Monaco.

But then on lap one he’d grabbed the lead after starting second, but Rosberg having been beaten on the track several times by Lewis wasn’t going to be pushed around, he attacked, Lewis closed the door but Nico left his front wing in there causing a puncture for the #44 Mercedes which forced it’s eventual retirement.

Rosberg finished second in the end, increasing his lead by 18 points, up to 29. But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was outraged, the world came crashing down on Nico, the fans booed him, the team fined him and made it clear it was unacceptable, team mates should not make contact.

Lewis suddenly felt the team was behind him, that they knew wrong from right, he reeled off five consecutive victories passing Rosberg for the lead in three of them. Rosberg fought back in Brazil, but by then Lewis had a points lead and a perfect start at the finale in Abu Dhabi launched him into a lead that turned into a win as Rosberg’s car failed, equalling the technical issues for both. It made Lewis Hamilton the 2014 world champion.

After all the tension of a title decider with the extra worry of double points it was a thoroughly deserved championship win, Hamilton has won 11 times to Rosberg’s five, and has defeated him in wheel to wheel combat every time. After Belgium his focus was brilliant. Lewis reset himself. Even when his qualifying problems seemed to continue eventually losing out to Nico 7-12, he’d have a think, go to sleep and by the time he woke up would be stronger, more determined to achieve his objective.

He’s invariably been the fastest driver on race day. His brilliance in understanding these new cars was fantastic. When everyone thought it would suit Rosberg more, Hamilton has defied those expectations and was the better on fuel consumption and looking after the tyres even when he was fighting his way to the front or streaking away in the lead.

His race craft in Bahrain where he spectacularly and robustly held off Rosberg was as intense racing as I’ve ever seen, his move around the outside of Rosberg in the pouring rain of Japan was mesmeric and his calm stalking of his team mate in the USA waiting for a mistake to pounce on was fantastic.

This is what everyone imagined would happen if you put the fastest driver in Formula 1 in the fastest car, he would reel off the victories. It’s only taken so long because Rosberg has been a brilliant competitor who has never backed off in trying.

Rosberg will come back stronger, it’s what he does, but with this success I think Lewis will also find an extra gear to take him to new heights of success. Mercedes should be just as strong next year and could well be start of an Hamilton era of success, where he gets the titles his talent has deserved, without machinery or mental blips holding him back.

Finally he’s come of age and is ready to attack anything that comes in his way. Lewis has showed himself to be not only capable of dealing with these problems but resetting himself to come back stronger than ever. Even after his title success he has said he’ll be focussing on making himself stronger next year for qualifying. The fight is never over in Formula 1, and this year Lewis has proved he’ll never back down, and always come back for more to take on his competitors and win. A brilliant year for the sport’s most naturally gifted driver and arguably the best racer on the planet.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Sebastian Vettel: Four time champion

It was inevitable from the moment the season started Sebastian Vettel would claim his fourth consecutive world championship in the far superior Red Bull. Well I get the impression that is what some people would have you believe.

However, Vettel has been head and shoulders above everyone else this season. Year on year since he came into Formula 1 in 2007 he has been driving better. It’s an often used cliché that critics spout about top sportsmen that they learn from their mistakes when what you actually get is that they make them perhaps slightly less often but they still make them.

Fernando Alonso for example still gets rattled when it seems like his team isn’t 100% behind him, Michael Schumacher still made basic errors on occasion even in his first career. At the time of writing and obviously subject to change as his career progresses, Vettel just seems to iron out any imperfections and won’t make the same mistakes again.

There were a number of errors in his first campaign for Red Bull in 2009. In 2010 when he won his first world championship there were slightly less, but he let Mark Webber get to him and his impetuousness in Turkey caused both Red Bull’s to crash. Now the Australian is well under control and when a fight does break out he remains in complete control.

The controversial Malaysian multi21 team order goes to prove that. It of course shows he is still learning to keep some of his racing emotions in check, but as he admitted after he knew what he was doing. He was faster so he passed him fairly cleanly. Yes, perhaps he shouldn’t have but it finally revealed that utter ruthless streak that all great sportsmen possess. It’s compromised his popularity with the motorsport fans despite him being a likeable personality, but that’s something he’ll get over and anyway in India he got a great reception when he won the title.

No, this showed he was prepared to do anything to win and this is why he is dominating the sport right now. Last year Alonso showed that when in a slower car you can still fight for the title. Vettel learnt from this and was just as consistent in the first half of the season as Alonso had been in 2012. He added yet another weapon to his arsenal. It was impressive that he never finished lower than fourth in a car that could not use its full potential due to the tyres while his win in Germany was beautiful as he held off the faster Lotus’ with some great defensive driving.

When he couldn’t get the win, he did the most the car and Pirelli’s could do. It was a lot more equal before the tyre construction was changed for Hungary but yet Vettel still held a healthy lead in the championship. Under the apparent hope of a proper fight for glory it went unnoticed that even in a car hamstrung by its tyres, Vettel was quietly dominating the season. He hasn’t gone more than two races without a win this year.

At this point there were hopes of a four way title fight but the fact that even in a sometimes struggling machine he was still up there fighting was cause for concern for his rivals, as at this time he was still dominating Mark Webber, albeit someone who knew he was leaving Formula 1 and was perhaps demotivated.

In previous years when the car hasn’t been at its best Webber has matched or often beaten Vettel, but not this year. Vettel has been on top form throughout, and when Red Bull came on song properly with a few modifications for Belgium onwards, then he flew. He was unstoppable. His drive in Singapore was just breath taking as he finished over half a minute ahead even with a safety car intervention.

Yes, since the summer break Red Bull have had a car that is so far above the rest of the field it’s half way to the moon. But I believe only one driver at the moment has the ability to exploit a car to its full potential and that’s Vettel. While Alonso and Kimi sometimes struggle with qualifying and Lewis Hamilton can be prone to lapses in concentration over a race weekend, Vettel doesn’t seem to suffer with these things. He’s always on it, in qualifying, in the race. When the team ask him to alter his driving style such as for the blown diffuser, he can do it, and do it quickly.

This season he has been on another level. Any doubts about whether he should be labelled with the greats of this sport should be firmly put to bed. Admittedly it would have been nice to see Kimi Raikkonen or another renowned top driver paired with him next season or for him to eventually go to another team, but those things can still happen but even if it doesn’t it should take nothing away from him. Webber is a fantastic driver and for him to be so comprehensively beaten says it all about how well Vettel is driving.

Sebastian Vettel is 2013 world champion and quite frankly no one else has come close to his level of performance; he is a richly deserving four time world champion. And at only 26 years of age, it’s be of some concern to his rivals that he’s only going to get better.

all photo's taken from autosport.com