Former Indycar racing driver and F1 pundit James Hinchcliffe suggested that Lewis Hamilton was finally able to show again why he's the best F1 driver of all time.
Lewis Hamilton managed to break a big unlucky streak in 2024- 56 Grand Prix weekends without a single victory. Although that is nothing compared to some other drivers, the seven-time World Champion previously didn't go for more than ten.
The last victory before his streak-ending race victory at his home circuit, Silverstone, during the 2024 British Grand Prix was the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
This means the seven-time World Champion went for two seasons straight without standing on the top step of the podium. He himself admitted this was one of the toughest periods in his life. Hinchliffe wrote about Hamilton for F1.com:
"After two winless seasons (incredibly, the first in his F1 career), Hamilton has secured two victories in the first half of the year, second only to Verstappen in terms of number of wins."
"And while teammate George Russell leads him in the qualifying head-to-head eight to six [qualifying head-to-head is actually 10-4], his average starting place is actually a few spots higher."
Despite qualifying and performing worse during most race weekends than Russell, Hamilton managed to outscore (in terms of points) his teammate by scoring when it mattered the most.
He has worked with his team very hard for the last two seasons, trying to fix the car that, for some reason, would work, and ever since the German team introduced their magical solution in Canada, the 39-year-old has scored two wins, four podiums and hasn't finished worse than P4. Hinchcliffe added:
"As the team starts to get a grasp on the tricky W15, Hamilton has been rewarded for his years of trying unorthodox setups and guiding the team's development direction, and finally has a machine that allows him to remind the world why he's one of the best to have ever driven in Formula 1."