Formula 1: The one key advantage that Lewis Hamilton still has

By Asher Fair | May 1, 2021

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Formula 1 (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /

Red Bull and Max Verstappen may be the combination to beat in Formula 1 this year, but there is one key advantage that Lewis Hamilton displayed in Imola.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen bounced back from their season-opening disappointment in the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit by winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) to secure their first win of the 2021 Formula 1 campaign.

Mercedes, which entered the season as the seven-time reigning world champions, and Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion who has won the last four titles and six of the seven that have been decided since the V6 turbo hybrid era began in 2014, have looked to be on the back foot so far this season, despite winning the opening race.

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Through two races, Mercedes lead the constructor standings by seven points (60 to 53) over Red Bull and Hamilton leads the driver standings by one point (44 to 43) over Verstappen, but the RB16R has shown to be the superior car compared to the W12.

However, there is still one key advantage that Hamilton has in this title fight.

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Before last season, whenever Verstappen found success, Hamilton struggled. In Verstappen’s first eight victories of his career from 2016 to 2019, Hamilton’s results were, by his standards, disastrous.

Save for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix and the chaotic start to that race, Verstappen wasn’t simply winning because Hamilton was screwing up, either. He was solidifying himself as the driver to beat with the car to beat, and Hamilton, for one reason or another, was not only unable to fight back, but he and Mercedes would dig themselves into a deeper hole.

They simply weren’t themselves when Verstappen was winning races.

For example: contact with Sebastian Vettel in the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix, a missed opportunity to pit under the virtual safety car in the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, aggressive driving over the curbs which damaged his car in the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, a straight-up disastrous race in the 2019 German Grand Prix, and a penalty for taking out another driver in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Take a look at Hamilton’s results in the first eight victories of Verstappen’s career.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix – RETIRED (21st)
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix – 2nd
2017 Mexican Grand Prix – 9th
2018 Austrian Grand Prix – RETIRED (16th)
2018 Mexican Grand Prix – 4th
2019 Austrian Grand Prix – 5th
2019 German Grand Prix – 9th
2019 Brazilian Grand Prix – 7th

That comes out to an average finish of 9.13.

Even without including the retirements, it comes out to 6.00, which is not what Hamilton wants or expects.

He had just one podium finish in a Verstappen win during these four seasons.

But in 2020, something changed.

Verstappen won twice, first in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit and then in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, and Hamilton, still driving for the clear fastest team on the grid, finished on the podium both times, finishing in second place in the former and third in the latter.

Then at Imola last month, Hamilton very well could have been back to his previous form during a Verstappen-won race. He drove his car off into the gravel, hitting the barrier, and fell back to ninth place, one lap off the lead lap. He even admitted that impatience played a key role in the accident.

Yes, he was aided by an ensuing red flag, ironically involving teammate Valtteri Bottas, but he was still able to not only finish in second place but do so with the race’s fastest lap, a lap which ultimately secured him the one point that separates him from Verstappen in the driver standings.

The fact that Verstappen and Red Bull were only able to pick up six points over their rivals (25 to 19) despite having the car to beat and Hamilton crashing just goes to show how they literally need to take advantage of every opportunity possible to fend off the Silver Arrows.

Verstappen won the race by 22 seconds and led all but two of the 63 laps, and that’s what it took just to make up six points.

There will likely be several more races in which Red Bull and Verstappen are the combination to beat this season, perhaps even more often than races in which Mercedes and Hamilton are the combination to beat, based on what we’ve seen out of the two teams thus far.

So the fact that Hamilton finally seems to have found his stride when Verstappen is the best driver out there will only bode well for him as he prepares for what could easily be his closest championship battle since that infamous last-lap pass on Timo Glock in the 2008 season finale won him his first title.

The real question is how Verstappen will respond when he isn’t the best driver out there, especially when that best driver is Hamilton. We haven’t yet gotten to see that in 2021, yet Hamilton is still in the lead, and he has already answered his version of the question.

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The Portuguese Grand Prix is the next race on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, and it is set to be broadcast live on ESPN from Algarve International Circuit (Portimao) beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 2. Hamilton won this race last year, but Verstappen figures to be the favorite this time around, given the strengths of the Red Bull package.

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