Lewis Hamilton simply unbeatable
The six-time British world champion proved on his home turf why he is currently the best driver on the grid.
Weekends come and go, and the Mercedes-Hamilton domination seems to be present at every race, much to the dismay of other teams and a large portion of Formula 1 fans. Yet, there was hope that despite the speed of the W11 compared to the competition, Valtteri Bottas would offer a great battle for the title against the British driver. The Finn only managed to beat his teammate in qualifying during the first race of the season in Austria. In the following Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton performed a lap more than 1 second faster than his garage neighbor, and in Hungary, the multiple world champion triumphed again on Saturday before masterfully taking his second victory of the season, which allowed him to regain the lead in the drivers’ championship.
It’s on his home turf at Silverstone that Hamilton once again demonstrated his dominance. Against a very fast Valtteri Bottas throughout all the free practice sessions, the Briton was pushed to his limits and knew he would have to give it his all in qualifying to beat the Finn. Perhaps pushing too hard in Q2, the Mercedes driver spun at the exit of Luffield. Such mistakes are not common for the world champion, proving that the internal competition at Mercedes is truly intense. But Hamilton is also a master of bouncing back, which is why despite a minor incident that could have dented his confidence and thus his pole position hopes, the Briton returned even stronger in Q3 to twice break the track record and claim the 91st pole position of his career.
3 tenths ahead of Bottas and 1 second ahead of Verstappen, the Mercedes-Hamilton combination seems simply unbeatable. And if the number 77 car can’t beat its garage neighbor, it’s a safe bet that Hamilton will equal the number of world titles won by Michael Schumacher.
