F1 | The year of Lewis Hamilton: the man of records

Behind the figure of the "showman" hides a five-time world champion who breaks record after record. This year he achieved it Manuel Fangio and the next goal is to match Michael Schumacher. Let's analyze 2018 together Lewis Hamilton.

The hardest season

This is how the Englishman defined his championship, despite having collected 11 victories, 11 pole positions and six podiums. If for many this world championship was "given away", given the numerous errors of the Ferrari and the help of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, for Hamilton this season has been: “The most difficult. Continuing to raise the level and battle with a four-time world champion and his team, who at times were faster than us, was something incredible.". The only failures of the season are the retirement in Austria, a fifth place in Canada and two fourth places in Mexico and China.

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The rivalry with Ferrari

During this season, among the stable of Maranello , Mercedes there was no shortage of moments of strong rivalry, characterized by mutual barbs between both teams. After contact with Kimi Raikkonen at the start of the Silverstone grand prix, Hamilton heavily criticized Ferrari, claiming: “From now on, we need to position ourselves better, so we are not exposed to the Reds' maneuvers, because we already know how it will end”.

Having said that, between the two title contenders, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, there has always been mutual respect and the Englishman intervened several times to defend the German from media attacks: “You can't imagine how hard what we do is at this level. We are human and we are expected to make mistakes, but it's how we solve problems that counts.".

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All the tensions accumulated during the year ended in the long embrace between Hamilton and Vettel after the victory of the Englishman's fifth world title in Mexico, with the German congratulating his eternal rival for the excellent work done. In Abu Dhabi the two champions even exchanged helmets.
Peace made then... but only for now!

Valtteri Bottas: the ideal teammate

Since his debut year in 2006, Lewis Hamilton has never gotten along with his teammates, see Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and especially Nico Rosberg. The rivalry with the latter continues to this day, in fact the Englishman has loudly asked not to be interviewed by the German in parc fermé.

Things changed when the Finn arrived at Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, immediately received positively by Hamilton. Perhaps the reason for this "friendship" is due to the fact that the Finn has not yet represented a real threat, on the contrary. This year he hasn't achieved a single victory, most of the time finding himself having to give up the position to his teammate. The most striking episode occurred in Russia, when Bottas had to give up the victory to help Hamilton, arousing the anger of many fans of the formula 1.

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2019 will probably be Bottas' last year at Mercedes; his place should be taken by Esteban Ocon, now a reserve pilot. Will Hamilton welcome the Frenchman in the same way?

Lewis off the track: the showman

If nothing can be said about the driver's sporting merits, the same cannot be said about his life away from competition. This year Hamilton has found himself having to defend himself several times from attacks on social media for statements and behavior that are not exactly well received by the public. At the beginning of the year, the Englishman had mocked his nephew in a video for wearing a girl's dress, sparking an uproar that forced him to delete the offending video and subsequently all the public posts from his social profiles. Just recently, the Englishman was once again at the center of controversy for having defined his hometown, Stevenage, as a "slum", unleashing the entire town which already doesn't particularly like the Englishman. But Hamilton isn't attacked just for his social media posts, many don't like his lifestyle: fashion shows (just this year he produced his own line in collaboration with sponsor Tommy Hilfiger), expensive cars, private planes and flirting with models... Attitudes that clash with what should be the ethics of a world champion.

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Far from the spotlight

In everyday life, Lewis Hamilton appears like a normal boy who likes to enjoy healthy relaxation with his family and especially with his dogs, Roscoe and Coco. Furthermore, since last year he has declared that he has decided to follow a vegan diet and in his posts he often denounces the mistreatment of animals in intensive farming. Precisely for this reason, the pilot received the Personality of the Year award. Finally, one thing that unites him to his idol, Ayrton Senna it is strong faith. In fact, in the last Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, during the celebrations on the podium, Hamilton showed his back to show off his tattoo: a large cross with the writing “Still I laughed” (I stand up again), which also appears on the back of the helmet.

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No matter what, loyal Til the day they die. Animals possess values ​​of which very few humans do. We turn a blind eye to the pain and torture we put animals through. Every piece of meat, chicken or fish you eat, every bit of leather or fur you wear, has come from an animal that has been tortured, pulled away from their families and brutally killed. We all have choices to make and if you are ok with it then that's you but I choose to love, to be conscious of what I'm supporting and I refuse to support the companies that buy from those companies killing and torturing animals. #chooselove #loyalty

A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton) he Dec 9, 2018 at 6:41am PST

Gossip and pomp aside (everyone in their life is free to act as they see fit, especially if they have the possibilities), Lewis Hamilton's talent is unquestionable. Love him or hate him, he is undoubtedly one of the strongest drivers in the history of Formula 1.