LEWIS BLEW HIS CHANCE OF
FORMULA 1 GLORY THIS YEAR
- BUT BET ON HIM REGAINING
HIS CROWN NEXT SEASON
FRANK WORRALL reporting for the WEEKLY SPORT.
BACK in 2008 I was privileged to write the first biography of Lewis Hamilton…just months before he won the F1 crown. At the time, I predicted that not only would he triumph that year, but that he would dominate the world of motor racing for years to come. Yet since that remarkable debut season, Lewis has become very much a secondary figure to another young man who not only took up his challenge, but has literally roared past him.
Yes, Sebastian Vettel is ready to be anointed as the undisputed King of F1 in Brazil on Sunday. The brilliant German has already won the title for the second year on the trot – and he will officially receive the trophy on Sunday. He has won 11 of the 18 races so far, been on pole 14 times and amassed an incredible 374 points.
That total puts him 121 ahead of his nearest rival, Jenson Button, Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate who has enjoyed another first-class season himself. Hamilton is fifth in the driver rankings with 227 points – yes, he is not even the No 1 in his own team now, let alone No 1 in the world!
Last season Lewis finished fourth as Vettel won the title for the first time and some pundits are even writing him off for next season now…because Vettel seems to be the man on a roll and, at 24, is actually two years YOUNGER than Lewis. The German, dubbed ‘Mini Schumi’ in his homeland (after the legendary Michael Schumacher, of course) will surely dominate the sport for years to come, the pundits say. He has it all – speed, concentration, youth on his side…and he doesn’t allow himself to be swayed by events away from the circuit, they add.
And yet…
If I were a betting man (which I am only on big cup final days and the Grand National) I would think very carefully before putting my mortgage on Vettel to keep winning at the expense of Lewis.
I know, I know…Lewis has been Mr Inconsistency this term and most of last. But there have been encouraging signs of late that, finally, he is getting his mojo back. That, finally, he is back to the kind of form that earned him that wonderful title in 2008. That, finally – and here’s the key – he has sorted out his head…that he is back on track away from the track.
For me, his downturn began before the start of last season when he sacked his father as his manager. He took a few weeks off before the campaign to relax on holiday with his girlfriend, Nicole Scherzinger, a pop star. Then he failed to make an impact during the season. In my view, there was no way he would have prepared for that campaign that way if his father had remained in charge of his affairs.
For the next 18 months, Lewis continued to live the life of a boyfriend of a major star – and his results largely remained unconvincing. My view is that he was, maybe subconsciously, rebelling against the iron fist of McLaren. He had, after all, been cocooned in the McLaren bubble for 12 years (since the age of 12), and had been pushed by his father since the age of eight to become a racer.
I myself would have eventually dashed for freedom – to live some of the childhood/youth I had been denied by the iron discipline and determination it took to become world champion.
But now I believe Lewis has got that freedom push out of his system – and that is why I also reckon Vettel will not have it all his own way next season.
Lewis has recently split from Scherzinger and seems much more determined to work his way back to the top. He seems much more focused. The signs were there for all to see in his last race – when he won so brilliantly in Abu Dhabi. And I certainly would not bet against the boy pulling off another triumph in Interlagos.
Brazil, after all, always seems to bring out the best of Hamilton. In many ways, he views it as his spiritual home and his inspiration for F1 – the legendary Ayrton Senna – hailed from there. Lewis has never denied that he bases his racing on Senna’s and he wants desperately to win there on Sunday to honour the memory of Senna.
Ayrton twice won at Interlagos but Lewis has yet to do so. Don’t be surprised if he does just that on Sunday – and follows it up with a world crown next season.
Hamilton is back – and you’d better believe it…
CAN A NEW SENNA
BECOME F1’S NEXT
BIG STAR?
HAMILTON and Vettel are undoubtedly the pin-up boys of F1, the ones who draw the crowds and help sell the motor racing dream via the T-shirts, the caps and the rest of the memorabilia you find trackside at every race.
But there are some very talented guys bubbling underneath them in the rankings. Jenson Button, as we have already mentioned, is the best of the rest for me. The 2009 champion, the man who has outpaced Lewis this season and a truly brilliant driver – a man who combines tactical nous with incredible skills. We are lucky to have him and Lewis – two British demons.
Of the rest, Fernando Alonso is arguably the most gifted. A driven (if you’ll excuse the pun) individual and two-time world champion who is still at the top after years of excellence. The Spaniard lies third in the drivers’ standings and is the biggest challenger to Hamilton and Vettel, along with the man who is a place behind him – the effervescent, ultra-confident Mark Webber.
Aussie Webber, at 35, would surely have been champion over the last couple of years given that he has been racing the wonderful Red Bull car. Would surely have been, that is, if he had not been in the same team as the prodigious Vettel. Given his age, Webber’s time has surely been and gone…just as the great Michael Schumacher is now merely an also-ran.
One for the future? Well, why not the man who has family links to the tragic genius who continues to inspire Lewis Hamilton? Yes, step forward Bruno Sennna…nephew of Ayrton, who was killed on the track in 1994. Bruno is 18th in the current driver standings – but has only raced in seven of the 18 races so far. With the backing of Renault, maybe he too can become a contender to Vettel and Hamilton in coming seasons…
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