That Laddie Hamilton (That Just Wins All The Time)

‘Who’s going to be last on the brakes? Leclerc has that inside line! Perez goes off the track – cuts the chicane! Off goes Leclerc – THROUGH GOES HAMILTON.’ – David Croft, Silverstone (2022)

The last time Lewis Hamilton won a Formula 1 Grand Prix was 945 days ago. The last time he won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone was 3 years ago. Yet, whenever his name is mentioned in the turbulent storm of commentary exploding out of my speakers during a race, a shiver goes down my spine. I strongly believe in the idea of wanting to win, to want to win so badly that it happens. I’ve seen plenty of tennis matches end, turned off the tv, and shrugged. ‘He wanted it more,’ I say to my parents, who sit eyes wide on the sofa beside me wondering how I knew what would happen, ‘he wanted to win more than the other guy, so he did.’

Growing up all I knew about Formula 1 was the name Lewis Hamilton. I knew he was a champion, a legend, and I knew that he was a winner. He was the GOAT of modern British Motorsport, he was untouchable. My dad used his name to complain about Formula 1 frequently – ‘it’s boring – that laddie Hamilton just wins all the time.’ To me Hamilton wasn’t just a racing driver, he was supernatural – he was a mythical entity – an epic folk tale. He held my expectations of racing in a neon and black monster logo studded helmet and a mercedes racing car that was consummate in comparison to the rest. As someone who finds it boring to simply root for the person most likely to win it’s safe to say I didn’t start watching F1 thinking I would be a Hamilton fan. So, you can imagine my surprise when I began to invest my time and attention into motorsport several years later to discover that Hamilton placing in the top 5 in a Grand Prix was somewhat of a novelty.

Recently I have found myself in the unique and, in my eyes, very special by-product result of coming to Formula 1 later than many of my peers. This has brought about one key difference between them and myself: I root for Lewis Hamilton like an underdog. This year more and more teams have been bringing the fight to RedBull and Max Verstappen and the most recent team to have done so is Mercedes. Slowly but surely over this triple-header the Mercedes has been looking stronger and I’ve sat staring until my eyes hurt at the ever-closing time gaps between drivers on my TV. Willing on just one more victory for the once-favourite-turned-underdog – Lewis Hamilton.

On Friday I was sitting on a till-shift at my work with a friend. It was a slow day and we were chatting about Formula 1.

‘It’s so boring now’ he complained to me, ‘I just want a good fight.’

‘Maybe you should watch this season,’ I said keenly, ‘it’s been pretty crazy so far.’

‘Maybe I will,’ he said without much conviction. Then our conversation was rudely interrupted by the appearance of a customer wanting tickets.

‘So who do you think will win on Sunday?’ he asked after they’d left.

‘I fancy Norris,’ I said immediately. Then I paused for a moment remembering the practices early that morning. ‘Nah,’ I cut myself off mid-sentence, ‘actually I’ll bet on Hamilton.’

‘Yeah right,’ he grinned at me. ‘No way has Hamilton got the pace to do it in the actual race, why’d you think that?’

I shrugged, ‘I’ve just got a feeling he woke up this morning and decided he was going to win.’

We bickered for the rest of the day about whether Andretti were going to try and buy an F1 team.

Saturday qualifying rolled around and as unpatriotic as I often am feeling for Great Britain, there was something special about a British 1-2-3 finish. Silverstone is the race. The crowd audibly roars, even through my crackly laptop screen, as a home driver moves into the lead. With the rain, the chaos on the track predictably in the form of Perez, and the atmosphere of the crowd willing on their drivers you could sense the energy – even hundreds of miles away in Scotland. I watched Lewis Hamilton drive himself into P2, and I knew he’d turned up to win.

My friend texted me:

‘You were right WTF happened?’

‘How did you know that’s crazy’

I texted back:

‘I just knew’

‘Tomorrow is going to be interessttingggggg’

(smiley face)

He sent a one message response:

‘One things for sure tho I’m definitely NOT

missing this race tomorrow.’

I never saw myself as someone to root for a former 7-Time World Champion but here I was, fully committed to a belief I felt only I held, Lewis Hamilton was going to win the British Grand Prix – and HE DID – because he wanted it more, more than Lando, more than Max. There was a moment, as Verstappen overtook Norris in the final laps that for a moment I thought it was all over – the dream – the fairytale of a final win at Silverstone with Mercedes for Hamilton. I needn’t have worried. I watched through my fingers as Lewis Hamilton became a 9-time British Grand Prix champion and I knew in that moment that Hamilton was every bit the superhuman legend my younger self had believed him to be.

Did McLaren and Ferrari make some horrible decisions? Yes, yes they did, did Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon slay for Williams? Yes, yes they did, but those things can happen to anyone, any team, on any day.

Did Lewis Hamilton make decision after decision to keep himself in that race even after his teammate had to retire, did he preserve his soft tires to perfection holding off a much quicker Max Verstappen on hard tires, did he hold a 2-second advantage that should’ve been eaten up in a matter of laps by a RedBull? Yes, yes he did, and ONLY Lewis Hamilton could’ve done that.

My friend texted me:

‘You fucking called it’

‘I can’t believe it’

I texted back a video of me screaming.

Then I sent an add-on:

‘GET IN THERE LEWIS.’

‘He is the man who raises the bar. Who raises the stands. 8-times we’ve said it before – here’s a 9th for ya! Lewis Hamilton wins the British Grand Prix – HAMILTON IS BACK!’ – David Croft, Silverstone (2024)