Sky Sports F1 Ahead of his final race with the team at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, we’ve selected Lewis Hamilton’s 10 best wins during his time at Mercedes.
10) Monaco GP 2019: Fending off new rivals
An inspiring Hamilton took victory over Mercedes and Niki Lauda at the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen has emerged as Hamilton’s next superstar rival, and their head-to-head clash in Monaco in 2019 remains one of the two teams’ most intense races.
Verstappen was in Hamilton’s wing mirror for most of the race. It brought back memories of Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell’s Monte Carlo in 1992, and Hamilton’s task was made more difficult by Mercedes’ admission that they had given him the ‘wrong’ medium tyres. Their lead driver had to last more than 60 laps.
Verstappen gave it his all, making contact with his Mercedes as he entered the chicane with three laps to go, but Hamilton kept his car perfect the whole time. Hamilton’s victory was even more impressive considering his good friend and mentor Niki Lauda passed away earlier that week.
9) Hungary 2013: Mercedes’ first competition
Hamilton took his first win with Mercedes at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Eyebrows were raised when Hamilton swapped McLaren for the relatively primitive Mercedes outfit, but after Nico Rosberg proved the W04’s speed with two wins by round 10 at the Hungaroring, Hamilton took his first race for the Silver Arrows in style. I unfolded it.
Defying pre-race expectations, soaring heat and two world champions in Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton converted pole to an unexpectedly dominant victory in Hungary. This dominant performance was replicated repeatedly over the next decade.
8) Italian GP 2018: Breaking the heart of Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton won the 2018 Italian Grand Prix in front of Ferrari’s home crowd.
Hamilton beat Ferrari’s front row to deliver another big punch against title rival Vettel at Monza in 2018.
He spun around the outside of Vettel in the second chicane, the pair made contact and the Ferrari driver spun.
Raikkonen will be a much more difficult challenge to handle as Hamilton overtook the Finn on the early Safety Car restart but lost the lead at the next corner.
He spent the next 40 laps watching the back of a flying Ferrari boasting incredible straight-line speed, before making a spectacular move into the first corner with nine laps remaining. This time, they maintained their victory without giving up first place. .
7) Brazilian GP 2016: A masterclass in invisible wet weather
One of Lewis Hamilton’s most underrated wins was the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix.
All the talk about the 2016 Sao Paulo F1 race was Verstappen’s surprising third place as he clawed his way back through the field in heavy rain.
But at the front, Hamilton was in a league of his own in a must-win race to keep his championship hopes realistic. Rosberg finished 11 seconds behind his Mercedes teammate.
Perhaps not as famous as McLaren’s Silverstone win in 2008. However, its performance on yet another wet road did not go unnoticed.
6) German GP 2018: A comeback means championship
The 2018 German Grand Prix was one of Hamilton’s most significant victories in F1.
Hockenheim 2018 was certainly one of the most incredible days of Hamilton’s incredible career.
The Briton lost his title momentum to Vettel heading into the weekend, and his mood worsened as a dismal failure in qualifying left him 14th on the grid. Hamilton has never won from lower than sixth place.
But after charging through the field, Hamilton took advantage of the wet and dry conditions to close in on Vettel, causing his big rival to land his car in the gravel. It was a stunning victory and was crucial to Hamilton winning his fifth crown.
5) Bahrain GP 2021: Verstappen battles in incredible season opener
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Lewis Hamilton held off a challenge from Max Verstappen in a dramatic battle between the two in the 2021 season opener.
The first race of the 2021 season set the tone for the races to come. Verstappen started on pole, but Hamilton undercut him and made a cheeky play on track limits rules by running wide at Turn Four throughout the first half of the race to gain a lap time.
Verstappen used fresh tires for the final hour and began tracking the Mercedes driver. With five laps to go, Verstappen went around the outside at Turn Four but passed Hamilton on the track.
He gave up position late in the lap and Hamilton held him off in an epic season opener.
4) British GP 2024: Drought ends with 9th Silverstone win.
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Lewis Hamilton got emotional on team radio shortly after winning the British GP.
After losing to Verstappen in the brutal climax of the 2021 season, rule changes have left Hamilton’s Mercedes team out of regular contention for race wins.
Although his teammate George Russell has scored a few victories, Hamilton has gone through 56 Grands Prix without reaching the podium at Silverstone 2024.
It was a race worthy of the sheer magnitude of the win for Hamilton, a dry-dry thriller that ended with Verstappen chasing down the Mercedes in the final laps.
Hamilton managed his tires brilliantly in the final moments to take his ninth win at Silverstone, breaking the tie he shared with Michael Schumacher for most wins in the same race.
3) Bahrain GP 2014: Duel in the desert
Hamilton beat Rosberg in a thrilling battle at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix.
After just one race in 2014, it was almost certain that Mercedes had passed the new regulations and that Hamilton and Rosberg would be the exclusive title challengers.
With this in mind, it was very important for Hamilton to beat his team-mate in an epic racing duel in Bahrain. Not only for his second world title, but also for his Mercedes career.
Rosberg passed Hamilton on the inside again and again, but the latter was excellent when reacting time and time again, attacking and defending in wheel-to-wheel battles, especially towards the end of the race when his team-mate had a huge tire advantage. .
2) Turkish GP 2020: Tire Heroics wins 7th world title
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Take a look back at the moment Lewis Hamilton equaled Michael Schumacher’s record by winning his seventh world title.
Hamilton is known for his impressive tire management, and the biggest evidence of this was at Istanbul 2020.
Stuck in traffic in wet conditions, Hamilton pitted early for the intermediates and had to play a patient game as overtaking proved difficult.
As the track dried, the drivers ahead of him pitted for fresh rubber, but Hamilton held on bravely and, unlike most of his rivals, surprisingly did not pit for fresh rubber after passing Racing Point driver Sergio Perez flawlessly. .
He made the intermediate effectively slick on a nearly dry track and won by more than 30 minutes, equaling Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles.
1) Sao Paulo GP 2021: A come-from-behind comeback
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Lewis Hamilton made a spectacular comeback at the 2021 Sao Paulo GP for Mercedes.
A DRS breach in qualifying will see Hamilton start at the back of the grid for Saturday’s sprint in what will be the sport’s most famous title battle between Hamilton and Verstappen.
He was scheduled to finish 5th in the sprint, but a 5-place penalty for fitting a new engine meant he could start the entire race from 10th.
A stellar start saw Hamilton move into fifth place within five laps, before he overtook Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Perez to take second place on lap 19.
Overtaking Verstappen was more difficult as the Dutchman’s fierce defense forced Hamilton to run off the track at Turn Four. The Mercedes driver finally got past his rival in the closing stages to reduce the championship deficit.
Speaking in 2023, Hamilton described the win as “the most special race” of his career. From a driving perspective, it would be difficult to pick a driver in F1 history who performed better over the weekend.
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