Lewis Hamilton: My Story

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As much as I love Lewis to death, would I be happy for my daughter to bring him home? No. As part of the complex equation of talent, intensity, focus, they also have to have a bit of ruthlessness.

But the way he is living his life, the way he looks after himself, the veganism, the training that is constantly adapting to his age, the people he surrounds himself with, all this makes it possible for him to stretch his ability for top performance beyond an age where you would normally think about ending your career. I think he has many more years in him to perform at the top level.”

Wolff ‘baffled’

Throughout his triumphant campaign Hamilton handled his class-of-the-field Mercedes W11 with methodical precision, controlling races, driving flawlessly fast, yet with car-conserving care, to far outperform his team mate Valtteri Bottas, who won just two races and finished a distant second overall, in an identical car. Far from gloating Hamilton paid tribute to him: "Valtteri is amazing and doesn't get the credit he deserves." Lewis is one of the icons of sport worldwide, and that’s something we all have to accept. But his heart is in the right place, and his heart does not forget, and that’s really nice.” On assuming the role of team leader in 2008 (when Alonso returned to Renault) the boy wonder became even more of a marked man. En route to carving out five victories and scything his way to the podium on six other occasions, he incurred the wrath of several overtaken rivals who accused him of arrogance and dangerous driving. Hamilton insisted his hard-earned self-belief was wrongly interpreted and that his driving was firm but fair. But it wasn't without flaw and a combination of miscues and mishaps meant the championship was far from a foregone conclusion prior to the final Grand Prix, in Brazil. There, if Hamilton failed to finish at least fifth, Ferrari's Felipe Massa could take the title by winning his home race.

Wolff says: “He’s almost philosophical about certain things. He spends a lot of time thinking. He is someone who hasn’t built his whole life on one particular pillar. It all circles around his driving. He is the F1 world champion. But now he is the F1 world champion and he’s a fighter for diversity, a fighter against racism. These are topics that go far beyond the racing driver. In fact I have learned something every day in this last year. I am so competitive that I always want to achieve more and more. It is a positive force for me. I want to win. You have to be realistic and remember this was my first season and that it was something special for me. I was bound to make some mistakes. I started out just hoping to learn a lot, to challenge Fernando and to prove I was worth my seat in the team. The level of expectation was a measure of how far I had gone in that space of time.Hamilton first led the championship after the fourth race of the season, taking it away from Alonso at the Spaniard’s home grand prix. The problems that led to the team unravelling began at the next race in Monaco. Undisputed were Lewis Hamilton’s unrivaled achievements after 288 F1 races. His records to date included 103 victories, 103 pole positions, 183 podium appearances and numerous other distinctions . After Mercedes’ protests over the contentious safety car decision and the race result were rejected, the team ultimately opted against taking the matter to appeal, with the FIA announcing it would conduct a ‘detailed analysis and clarification exercise’ intended to end the controversy and the ensuing arguments that were ‘tarnishing the image of the sport.’