Brendan Lines

As Lewis Hamilton adds his sixth Formula 1 World Championship to his impressive career, amongst the celebrations, his unbound success and Michael Shumacher — just how is Hamilton’s journey this season helping him create a Formula 1 masterpiece?

Image: Associated Press

As the champagne flowed at the US Grand Prix on Sunday, the immediate reaction for most was ‘who would have thought?’ anyone would come this close to Michael Shumacher’s seven world titles.

But with all the comparisons and a plethora of statistics drawn between Hamilton and Schumacher aside, are we witnessing a champion more happier in his own skin to face his challenges along the way than simply to beat Shumacher’s record.

Buried in the magic of the moment we heard post-race at the US Grand Prix a side of Lewis Hamilton that reflected upon a more human element to his world championship success, in terms of; the effect from the loss of Nikki Lauda, to battling his demons and his journey towards a masterpiece.

At Sunday’s press conference Hamilton said to www.formula1.com that the loss of Lauda was a great loss to him personally and the team.

“No way has it been the easiest. It’s been the hardest year for us as a team. We lost Niki this year. A crucial member and a real pivotal member of our team and the emotional rollercoaster that we’ve been on with losing him,

“I would say this year that losing Niki, I didn’t think that was going to hit me as hard as it did. It really was upsetting and I miss him dearly today and I didn’t realise how much I loved the guy.”

Yet beneath Hamilton’s cheerful demeanour and all the success, the loss of Lauda and sometimes languishing speed of the Mercedes this year, forced Hamilton to face up to what he says is to be ‘battling certain demons.’

“There’s always the darker side that’s always trying to pull you down and you’re constantly having to wake up… I don’t know how you guys wake up in the morning but I look in the mirror and I’m trying to lift myself up and say ‘yes, you can do it. Yes, you are great. Yes you can be fit if you go and put that time in. Yes, you can win this race if you do the right steps and you continue to believe in yourself, and no one else is going to do it for you,” he said.

Hamilton has become a person who wears his ‘heart on his sleeve,’ speaking more candidly about what it takes to remain successful, wether that’s just maturity alone is debatable.

Clearly Hamilton’s motivations since 2007, as a rookie who was simply hungry for that first win have changed. As Hamilton now draws a more philosophical approach to how he sees his F1 journey unfolding.

At Sunday’s press conference Hamilton said to www.formula1.com he is creating a masterpiece.

“I’m working on a masterpiece and I haven’t quite finished it yet, so I’m trying to understand, I think it takes a long time to master a craft, while I feel like I am mastering it there’s still more to master, there’s still more to add to it, theres still more pieces of the puzzle to add, there’s going to be more ups and downs along the way but I feel like I’ve got the best tools now, at this point at least to deal with those.” 

There is no doubt the biggest part of that masterpiece is his relationship with Mercedes. Where out of Hamilton’s six world titles five of them have been won during Formula 1’s turbo-hybrid era from 2014 under team boss Toto Wolff.

On Sunday Wolff said to the Daily Mail  there maybe no lid on Hamilton’s success.

“I think there is no limit to what he can win. He is still very motivated and you can see he wants to win every single race. As long as that is the case, he can go for more.” 

Later, Wolff said to www.formula1.com there is however a role the team must play.

“If we’re able to provide the drivers with a good car next year, that is competitive, we continue to work on the gaps we still have, try and minimise the mistakes and he has a good season, there is no reason why he couldn’t go for a seventh title,” he said.

If we now pause after all this and ask how does this dominance continue?

We immediately think Hamilton just needs to have the fastest car to capitalise on the current stable regulations, that maybe true — but there is one condition.

As the new ‘game-changing’ regulations for the 2021 season were locked in over the weekend, does it potentially limit Hamilton’s window to 2020 in order to match Shumacher?

The answer to that is anyones guess, but if we look at success the way Hamilton now sees it  — is there really an end date on a masterpiece? Which leaves the possibility to suggest Hamilton’s trajectory of success could well continue despite Formula 1’s shifting regulations, writing a truly unique piece of Formula 1 history next to the greats.

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