Hamilton expects ‘one hell of a second half of the F1 season’
Lewis Hamilton spoke with enthusiasm after last week’s Belgian Grand Prix when he predicted “It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season” given how competitive it has become at the front of the Formula 1 pack.
Following Hamilton’s victory at Spa-Francorchamps (inherited after George Russell’s disqualification), the 105th of his career, Mercedes racked up its third win in four races.
Moreover, Max Verstappen, the dominant force of Formula 1 in recent times has failed to win a race during that period and has gone without a podium in back-to-back Grands Prix for the first time since 2019.
With the last six pole sitters failing to win ( a first since 2009/10), the top three across the start/finish line at Spa were covered by just 1.173s, the smallest margin since Hamilton backed up Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel at the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP to the tune of 0.843s across the trio.
In 2024, there have been seven different wins, the most since eight triumphed in 2012, Motorsport Week put it to Hamilton to compare the two in the post-race Belgian GP press conference to which the Mercedes driver responded: “I don’t have a good memory, so I don’t remember back then.”
However, Hamilton was able to divulge how competitive Formula 1 is at the present moment after seven winners across four different teams in 2024, saying “It’s really fantastic, I think, for the sport to be having such close teams and drivers.
“And, you know, the pedigree of drivers at the top today are really elite and amazing.”
For Mercedes, scoring a one-two on the road at Belgium and holding onto a victory after the Russell DSQ, is somewhat of a surprise given where the Brackley-based team started this season.
Russell was the leading Mercedes driver at the season-opening Bahrain GP finished 46s off of race winner Verstappen, but the now the team has joined McLaren as a genuine threat to Red Bull.
“Yeah, we didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season, you know, with how we started off,” Hamilton said.
“So for us to now have closed up and be, it’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season for sure,” he predicted.
Based on recent results, Hamilton’s assumption regarding the last 10 rounds of the 2024 F1 campaign will no doubt come to fruition.
Hamilton: “I felt in control for the first time in years”
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton only crossed the finish line second at Spa, but he displayed a remarkable performance all through the 44-lap race. The Briton insists that he did not feel in control of a race victory for several years.
Last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton made a superb start from the second row, getting ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to power into second position. The Briton did not hesitate long to take over the lead on Lap 3, going past the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on the Kemmel straight.
Although he looked in control of the lead, a strategy decision by his team and George Russell saw his team-mate grab the lead as all other top drivers went for a two-stop strategy. In the final stages of the race, he then rapidly closed down Russell who was on a one-stop strategy. However, it did not prove enough and Hamilton took the flag in second, just 0.5s down.
Reflecting on his race, the seven-time world champion said that he did not have the feeling behind the wheel of his car
“It was literally night and day different today. On Friday, it was pretty disastrous for both of us and really struggling with balance. And then [on Sunday], the car came alive and I was really surprised to, firstly, get into the lead and then be pulling away from everyone and not.
“Yeah, as I said, it felt fully under control and I’ve not had that for years and so that’s why it was also a bit of a strange way to finish it.”‘
The Briton, who clinched his 105th F1 victory at Spa, said that he was slightly surprised by Mercedes’ decision to call him in early for his second stop as he constantly gave feedback about the state of his tyres.
“I mean, if you listen, you could have heard what I said to the team most of the time. But yeah, I think the tyres were pretty good. I still had plenty of tyres and I was going quicker. I didn’t want to stop.”
