How Good Was PRIME Lewis Hamilton Actually?

Prime Lewis Hamilton, a record seven world championships. People began to hate just how powerful he was, but say what they will, he's still on the Mount Rushmore of all-time F1 driver goals. But since Max Verstappen's dominance over F1 in recent years, it can be easy to forget how dominant Lewis Hamilton was. So how good was Prime Lewis Hamilton? Born in Stevenage in England, Lewis Kyle Davidson Hamilton was born January 7th, 1985. His journey began when he was introduced to the world of racing at a tender age of six when his father bought him a radio-controlled car. Lewis Hamilton was only seven years old. So how long have you been racing cars for already, Lewis? About a year. Two years later, he was competing in and winning races against adults. F1 has one of, if not the most expensive barrier to entry out of any sport with car costs, repairs, management, travel, just to scratch the surface. So Lewis's dad knew the significant financial sacrifice, but he knew Lewis was special. To show that, he worked multiple jobs to be able to scrape by at home, but just enough to give Lewis the chance he needs to make it. And in 1998, at the age of just 13, Lewis was signed to McLaren's young driver program. Did Lewis do well? 2001 European and World Karting Championships. 2002 Formula Renault UK Series, finishing third. 2003, won the championship title and grabbing a seat in Formula 3 with Manor Motorsport. 2004, a respectable fifth. But 2005, it wasn't even fair. Winning 15 out of 20 races and, of course, claiming the title. People were starting to realize this was no ordinary kid. 2006, Lewis moved up to the GP2 Series and won the GP2 Championship in his rookie season. And then it happened. Formula 1. And then they said, but we've decided you're gonna be our race driver. And it was sort of like, I had to bite my tongue, but it was an amazing moment. My dream has come true. Only the best of the best sit in these seats. McLaren saw it and took the risk with Lewis, but then you realize who was in McLaren's second seat. None other than Fernando Alonso, the current defending world champion. If there was ever a mentor Lewis could have, he couldn't have struck it better. So in 2007, it was his time. How did he do? Lewis finished on the podium in his first nine races and won his first Grand Prix in Canada. Lewis Hamilton wins! Surely the first of many. The world is at his feet. He narrowly missed out on the championship, finishing second by just one point. It's all over, Hamilton's seventh. But 2008, he did it. He is going to claim fifth place, which is all he needs to do to become the 2008 Formula One world champion. At the time, he became the youngest ever F1 champion at 23 years old. I say at the time because... Sebastian Vettel, you are the world champion! So it began. Showing the world just how good he is. And now he had the financial backing and one of the best cars on the grid. He just took the championships by storm from here on out, right? Not exactly. Over the coming years, Lewis was still driving extremely well, but McLaren was struggling to provide a consistently competitive car. What was that all about then? 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Consistent, just consistently off. Meanwhile, Mercedes was looking to build a championship-winning team. They offered him a bold vision and a lucrative deal, convincing him to make the switch. In September 2012, Hamilton announced his decision to join Mercedes for the 2013 season, a move that surprised many in the racing world. But Lewis saw something. This could work really well for Mercedes. They've timed it well. Oh, he went in the wrong pit! Hamilton went into the wrong pit! Well, it's going to happen at one stage during the year, isn't it? Hamilton secured five pole positions and won the Hungarian Grand Prix, showcasing glimpses of what was to come. It may have came in fourth overall, the same position as where he's been in the last four years, but what that year did give them was time. Time to adjust to Hamilton's style. Time to modify their car. And time to learn. Especially when 2014 was a big change in F1 history, introducing the 1.6-litre turbo-hybrid engine. And Mercedes had a secret weapon. The 2014 race season is powered by a technical revolution, the power unit. With Hamilton's skill and Mercedes' engineering prowess, the stage was set for dominance. Fantastic job, Lewis. Fantastic. And really great racing. How do you feel? One win after another. Home Grand Prix win. Beautiful. England! This man and this car was just leagues ahead of the rest. But if you think it was all clean sailing, you'd be wrong. You could have done. I was on the pole lap. You think he could have done it deliberately? I wasn't saying that. I'm not saying anything. It's all kind of dirty in my eye. Brakes have failed. I'm going to try and fix what I did today. But through it all... World champion! I can't believe it! Finally, you can say you are a double world champion. That sounds really cool. There were two drivers for each team and Lewis' teammate wasn't messing around either. In steps Germany's own Nico Rosberg. This man was an incredible driver, all in himself. And even though they were teammates, they were anything but. In what will become one of the biggest rivalries in Formula 1 history. Are you friends again? Of course, we're teammates. The video on that is coming up very soon here, so subscribe. Lewis was near untouchable all season, finishing the season in the lead by a sizable 67 points. All season, he either won or the car was retired. The legendary run of Lewis Hamilton has begun. 2015. It was a little different. Nico knew the car better. Mercedes knew Nico better. All season, it couldn't have been more back and forth. From one race... And then the next race. Well done Lewis, great drive. As far as a season goes, seeing two people running for the top spot for the entire season is exactly what Formula 1 is all about. But in the end... That is it. World champion, pal. This is the greatest moment of my life. Second championship in the bag with no end in sight, right? Before that, we need to ask ourselves... What made Lewis so good in the first place? What differentiated him from everyone else in the world? We'll find out shortly because Lewis wasn't done there. 2016. A year to remember. A year dominated by Mercedes, with them winning 19 out of 21 races. But with regard to the drivers themselves, it couldn't have been closer. Australia, race one. Rosberg won. Hamilton nil. Bahrain. So it feels like we're all on my rip. China. Russia. Now we enter race five. The Spanish Grand Prix. This is where the rivalry went from bad to worse. Turn three, we go! And it's Nico Rosberg and Hamilton's onto the grass! And Hamilton's had a massive crash! And he's crashed into his teammate! The two Mercedes come together! I saw a gap and I went for it. And that's what racing drivers do. Definitely didn't expect him to do that. Gutted for all my fellow colleagues. There's 1,300 people that work for this car and you naturally just feel like you let them down. To let them down was to put it lightly. A new, fresh-headed driver took his first win that day. Max Verstappen. I wonder if he'll be any good in the future. This whole season was a movie, so expect a video on this topic too. But throughout the season, it was the battle of Mercedes, as the rest of the grid just had to watch from afar. Excellent drive, Nico! Awesome stuff, Luis! Race after race, sheer dominance. All the way down to the very last race. Abu Dhabi. Five and a half kilometres. 21 turns. And for a race famous for starting in the day and ending at night, the setting couldn't be better. Rosberg was 12 points ahead of Hamilton going into the final race. And with 25 points for the winner, it was all to play for. It's critical now that we start passing Verstappen. Luis is trying to go as slow as he can out front. Hamilton's like, I will not clear off into the sunset. It's come down to the wire, but he's surviving with Sebastian Vettel pressurising him all the way. Luis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Luis did it. Or did he? Luis needed Rosberg to place fourth or below, but it was not meant to be. So yes, he won the race, but lost the championship. Nico Rosberg is second. He takes the championship. The German held his own and secured his one and only world championship. In a shock twist of events, as the dust was still settling, five days after this race, he made a shock announcement to the world. I want to take the opportunity to announce that I've decided to end my Formula 1 career. Met with shock, but eventually respect. It's a bit of a bombshell. The announcement of your retirement. Of course, a little bit surprised, but at the end of the day, it's his own decision. I admire the decision. He bowed out at the top, so his legacy could be cemented. A remarkable moment in Formula 1 history. For Luis, his main obstacle was out of his way going into the 2017 season. And with a fresh blue-eyed Valtteri Bottas taking Rosberg's place, nothing could stop Luis now. 2017. Luis Hamilton does it in 2017. 2018. Car number 44 has really been the number one once again. He comes home to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and to crown a championship-winning season. 2019. It's Luis Hamilton, champion of the world! By far and away, the driver of 2019. 2020. Luis Hamilton wins the Turkish Grand Prix and is a seven-time champion of the world! Luis Hamilton was just unstoppable. But how? With Bottas in the same car as him, how did Luis just keep winning? Let's break it down. I could sit here and talk about his training regimen or his mental preparation, but at this stage of the game, every driver on the grid has this, as companies have invested hundreds of millions into these drivers. How do I prepare for G-Force? So then, why Luis? To mention his attributes, we have to start with his braking style. I'm generally known as one of the latest breakers. What makes it so different? He's known for constantly braking harder and later than everyone, so consistently, and when the difference between first and second can come down to a thousandth of a second. My dad would go around and he'll stand on the track and see where the best drivers was braking. Throwing this back to his dad. There were 25 kids on the grid and they could all put in the same lap times, but what actually marks you out as completely different to everybody else? You know, I said to Luis, I'll tell you what, let's try late braking. If he was braking here, for the corner that's over there, he'd move further down the road, a couple of meters further, and say, you've got to brake here, not brake where he's braking. Being able to brake hard and get out of a corner earlier than the other drivers over every turn, that will all add up. Do it again. I can't. Do it again. And eventually I could brake there and that's quicker than everyone. That's why I have the championships I have as part of that. When he was younger, he was known in the karting communities for pushing the car too far. So to adjust to that, Luis became a master of being able to balance the grip of the car to nearly perfection. And Luis Hamilton goes through, so he's been captured first. From the reports that Mercedes have put out, it shows that Luis's car can be nearly five degrees cooler than his teammates when doing identical speeds. Sometimes that balance can go off with Luis's tyres blowing up mid-race, like at the British Grand Prix in both 2013 and 2020. Look at the state of that Mercedes car! But Luis now hasn't won a race in Formula 1 since December the 5th, 2021. And if he's won again since we wrote this, just ignore that. His first win in nearly a thousand days! So what happened? Well, just like in 2014, 2021 brought on a new set of regulations from the FIA governing body. In a quick summary, big changes happened to the aerodynamics of the car. The floors of the car had to be cut diagonally now at the rear, which significantly reduced downforce. The rear brake winglets were shortened. Pirelli also came in and introduced a new construction for their tyres, aimed to be more durable and resistant to overheating, providing drivers with more consistent performance throughout the races. A year later, also followed up with a change to the car's power units. So all of these combined made the gates wide open to who would build the best car to adhere to these regulations. The winner? Max Verstappen wins in Miami, Baku, French, Mexico, Spanish. If you didn't know the Dutch national anthem, you do now. But hold up, there's juicy finger-licking videos on your screen right now. That's a two-for-one deal right now, I'll see you over there. They're good, I promise. The Grid, out.