Difference between revisions of "Lewis Hamilton"

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Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE (born 7th January, 1985 in Stevenage, England) is a British racing driver currently racing in Formula One for the AT&T Caterham F1 Team. He is a two-time World Champion, having won the Driver's Championships in 2012 and 2016.

Lewis Hamilton, pictured as a Caterham driver in 2019.

A product of McLaren's Young Driver programme, Hamilton made his F1 debut in the mid-2000s and has since established himself as one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time.

Formula One

2010-2011: McLaren

By 2010, Hamilton had established himself at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and was one half of the all-British super team of himself and Jenson Button. With the new two race format introduced in 2010, Hamilton thrived in the more "sprint-like" style of the races, allowing him to pick up eight wins over the course of the season. Unfortunately for Hamilton, he would be unable to mount a serious challenge to Mercedes driver Daniel Melrose and would finish the year in second place.

The following season, Hamilton remained for another year at McLaren and was joined by Canadian prospect Robert Wickens after Button opted to join rivals Red Bull. The MP4-26 was no way as strong as the previous year's car, and as such Hamilton struggled for most of the year - picking up only three wins on his way to sixth place in the championship.

2012-2013: Red Bull

After a somewhat pedestrian 2011, Hamilton decided to follow his former teammate Button to Red Bull Racing for the 2012 season. Despite only taking four wins to season-long rival Sebastian Vettel's eight, Hamilton was able to secure the Drivers Championship on his first ask for Red Bull.

However, Hamilton would be faced with his worst season yet in 2013, as the defending champion was unable to score any wins all season - finishing in thirteenth position overall. This would be the start of a three year drought of wins.

2014-2015: Stefan Grand Prix

A dreadful 2013 saw Hamilton's stock drop heavily, and Red Bull management saw fit to bring back Button alongside young Brit Alex Lynn. A return to McLaren was briefly mooted, but it would be controversial Serbian team Stefan Grand Prix where Hamilton would line up in 2014. Stefan had unexpectedly nearly won the previous driver's title with Vitaly Petrov, but once Hamilton had joined the team - Stefan's usual midfield pace would be revived. Hamilton could only muster a single third place at the Brazilian Grand Prix on his way to another thirteenth place.

Things went from bad to absolute rock bottom in 2015 - a season where his only top ten finish was a ninth place in Malaysia. Hamilton finished the season in 28th place.