Lewis Hamilton wins second F1 world title

The greatest measure of a modern racing driver is how they perform when they face adversity.

At several points this season, one driver had faced such adversity and it looked as though his assault on the world drivers’ title would never bear fruit.

But cometh the hour, cometh Lewis Hamilton.

His performance this season, winning 11 times in 19 races, was at times glorious and at times ruthless.

However, from the very first race in Melbourne he had to battle back from a big points deficit.

After a catastrophic pre-season which threatened mass unreliability amongst the whole grid, it was perhaps no surprise that there were several casualties throughout the opening weekend.

Complex new hybrid power units, the cause of these problems, came complete with an intricate turbo incorporated into the design in the interests of green automobile technology.

Such sophistication under these new regulations warranted a massive learning curve for the teams but Mercedes, Hamilton’s team, had appeared to master them in the three pre-season tests.

Yet when the Briton pulled away from the start line in Australia to begin the formation lap his car was already experiencing problems and he retired shortly afterwards.

His teammate and childhood friend Nico Rosberg then cantered to victory and the scene was set for an intense battle between the two.

Hamilton, already 25 points down, would have to retrieve a desperate-looking situation.

In emphatic fashion, he did just that.

A dominant victory in Malaysia preceded a gripping wheel-to-wheel duel in Bahrain which conjured the best racing of the season.

Hamilton, disadvantaged on a harder compound of the Pirelli tyres, was being hunted down by a rampant Rosberg in the twilight of the race.

The German had planned his tyre strategy so that he would be the faster of the two in the last laps of the race and would then have the chance to overtake Hamilton for the win.

It was a good plan, in theory at least, but he had not calculated the tenacity with which Hamilton would defend his lead and despite being passed a couple of times, Hamilton brilliantly passed him back and held on for a psychologically crucial win.

He went on to consolidate that memorable drive with imperious victories in China and Spain to lead the championship by three points from a dazed Rosberg.

Then, a controversial moment in qualifying at Monaco rocked Rosberg’s credibility.

The German, pushing hard down the hill into Mirabeau, overshot the braking point on his flying lap and dived down the escape road, necessitating yellow flags.

Consequently, the drivers behind – including Hamilton – had to slow down under the FIA’s safety guidelines.

That meant that Hamilton could not beat Rosberg’s time and the German took a vital pole position at the famous street circuit which presents very few overtaking opportunities.

Rosberg managed to keep Hamilton behind him all race and he denied Hamilton what would have been his fifth straight win, snatching the championship lead to boot.

Further bad news was to follow in Canada when both Mercedes drivers hit brake trouble, only for Rosberg to manage the situation better.

Hamilton’s car was deemed too dangerous to drive and he retired, while Rosberg calmly found a way around the problem and took second place, extending his lead to 22 points.

All the momentum seemed to be with Rosberg and a blunder in qualifying from Hamilton left him languishing in midfield in Austria.

Typically, he made a stunning start and recovered to within a car’s length of Rosberg, but he could find no way past and Rosberg took his fourth win of the season.

At the next race in Silverstone Rosberg took pole again, but it was his turn to encounter reliability problems and he retired, leaving Hamilton without a challenger to claim a euphoric home win and cut the gap to four points.

Adversity soon caught up with Hamilton at the next three races, though.

Another glitch in qualifying saw his brakes fail at Hockenheim and he had to drive through the field to salvage a superb podium while Rosberg claimed a faultless home victory.

In Hungary, once more in qualifying, a car fire left him dead last while his rival took his sixth pole of the season.

Unusually for Hungary, it rained on race day.

Despite a nerve-jangling spin at the back of the field, Hamilton regrouped to pass Rosberg in the pit stops and then fend off his rival’s attempt at passing him for third.

Significantly, Rosberg had yet to prove he could defeat Hamilton in wheel-to-wheel combat – and so in Spa the German decided to erase those doubts.

Starting from pole, Rosberg lost the lead to Hamilton and on the second lap at the end of the Kemmel straight he clipped Hamilton’s left rear tyre, puncturing it and causing damage to the floor of his car, robbing him of downforce.

The damage forced Hamilton into retirement despite a game effort to carry on, but front wing damage sustained by Rosberg in the clash saw him limp to second – a measure of the dominance Mercedes enjoyed this season.

Rosberg did not intend to deliberately end Hamilton’s race, but the message that he would not be intimidated was plain for the world to see.

Spurred on by the incident, Hamilton turned up the pressure on Rosberg as he set about eating into the 29-point chasm between them.

At Monza, Hamilton relentlessly chased Rosberg down, forcing the German into a mistake at the Rettifilo chicane and he took to the escape road, allowing Hamilton to pass him and take the win.

Rosberg then suffered his second retirement of the season in Singapore and had to watch Hamilton score his second win in as many races to claim the championship lead by three points.

Starved of a duel between the two since Spa, the world watched at a saturated Suzuka circuit as Hamilton closed in on Rosberg.

It took a pass of breathtaking bravery around the outside of Rosberg at the high-speed turn one to wrestle the lead from his rival and he went on to take the win – later dedicated to colleague Jules Bianchi after he sustained brain injuries in a heavy crash.

Hamilton was the beneficiary of a Rosberg error in Russia when the German passed him for the lead, but flat-spotted tyres ruined Rosberg’s race and he drove terrifically to clamber back to second.

Hamilton again passed Rosberg convincingly in Austin to take his lead to 24 points, before an authoritative weekend from the German in Brazil set up a tense finish in Abu Dhabi with double points looming large.

Needing second to clinch his second world title, Hamilton duly qualified on the front row after Rosberg notched his eleventh pole position to underline his superiority in qualifying this season.

Under a setting sun at Yas Marina the tension was palpable as the cars lined up for the last time in 2014.

As the lights went out, Hamilton rocketed away from second while Rosberg was bogged down in revs.

Hamilton edged the gap to 2.6 seconds at the first stop but soon afterwards Rosberg’s ERS system began to misbehave and it deteriorated throughout the race.

Just as in Canada, though, the problem could have affected both Mercedes cars, meaning Hamilton had to conserve his car under late pressure from Felipe Massa while a wounded Rosberg slipped down the field.

But like on so many occasions this season Hamilton overcame adversity and held off Massa to record win number 11 and take the title by a whopping 67 points.

What made his second title win so impressive was the belief he had in his capability.

Despite falling behind in the standings three times and suffering reliability gremlins, Hamilton recovered each time and was a worthy winner.

Even though his performances in qualifying were unusually poor throughout the year, his ability to maximise his performance in race trim was unmatched – fatally so – by Rosberg, who continually had no answer to his rival when the two locked horns.

Adversity had given its utmost to prevent Hamilton from winning the title and at times Rosberg seemed destined to take his maiden championship victory.

Yet just when he needed it most Hamilton was able to reply with a stunning victory and with it, his second world title.

Cometh the hour, cometh Lewis Hamilton.

• You can follow me on Twitter @NeilWalton89

Is Ferrari’s legendary reputation in Formula One fully merited?

Ferrari. The name synonymous with the scintillating sport of Formula One. For many fans their existence on the grid is reason alone to watch one of the world’s most exciting sports. Having been an integral and prominent constructor from the very first World Championship in 1950, and the only one to have featured in every season since its inception, few people could doubt how important Ferrari is to both the history of the sport and indeed its future.

Yet, when you deeply examine the history of the sport, including drivers’ titles and constructors, some cracks begin to appear in the revered standing of the famous Italian marque.

Starting at the very beginning of Formula One history, Ferrari were immediately a big team and were always challenging for wins and podiums. Alfa Romeo, however, dominated the first two seasons in 1950 and 1951 with Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio respectively. Alfa subsequently pulled out of the sport and a major change of rules for the 1952 season to Formula Two specification was designed to avoid a Ferrari landslide. That failed dramatically.

For the next two seasons Ferrari, who had a successful Formula Two setup prior to the rule change, won the title with the legendary Alberto Ascari. They dominated in ’52 and ’53 with Ascari winning all six races he entered in ’52 and winning a further five in ’53.

Ferrari would not have it all their own way in 1954, however, as the emergence of Mercedes as a powerhouse and Ascari’s switch to Lancia for financial reward saw them beaten to the title. Ascari had endured a frustrating season that year, waiting for Lancia to get their car ready in time, and he would not be able to defend his title, instead watching Fangio race to his second world crown.

The following year was a horrific season for the sport, and one which still resonates to this day. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Ascari crashed his Lancia into the harbour and escaped with minor injuries. Just four days later, in a testing accident at Monza, he died. It is known that Ascari drove in that test without a helmet, although the exact cause of the crash which killed him will never be known.

Ascari’s death came in the same year as the Le Mans 24 Hours tragedy in which 80 people died. It was a dark year for motorsport, and too dark for some. Mercedes withdrew from racing altogether whilst Gianni Lancia, who was close friends with Ascari, was so distraught at his death that he signed his entire team over to Ferrari. This was to be a significant move.

The Lancia’s had been widely tipped as title-winners in 1956 with their innovative design and super-quick performance. Such was Ferrari’s confidence in them they entered Lancia’s cars under their name and ‘Prancing Horse’ logo and won the title with Fangio.

Fangio left them the following season for Maserati where he won his fifth and last title and Ferrari retaliated by signing British driver Mike Hawthorn in 1958. His team-mate, Peter Collins, also British, died in a crash at the infamously dangerous Nürburgring and, after Hawthorn won the title for Ferrari, he quit before tragically dying in a road accident a short time after.

Ferrari’s progress went into remission over the next few seasons as they were overhauled by a number of new and fast British constructors with a more powerful rear engine configuration. They would not win the title again until 1961 when new 1.5 litre engine regulations were introduced. USA driver Phil Hill won the title, but only after more tragedy when German driver, and championship leader, Wolfgang von Trips, died in a crash at the steep-banked Monza.

In 1962, Enzo Ferrari’s staff walked out on him and he was forced to enter old cars into the championship. It was an unmitigated disaster for the team as the British constructors continued to improve and the Italian giants were soundly beaten.

Ferrari owed much to the emerging talent of John Surtees in 1964 when they took both the drivers and constructors titles. Surtees became the first man to win the World Championship on two wheels and four wheels, having previously been a motorcycling World Champion.

The British teams had gathered strength though and Lotus, led by the ambitious Colin Chapman, were chief architects of Ferrari’s downfall with their revolutionary cars which put speed before safety. Other British teams, in the shape of Brabham and Tyrrell, played their part in dominating the next decade of racing and it was only in 1975, eleven years after their last title, that Ferrari next tasted success with the Austrian driver Niki Lauda.

Lauda was to suffer horrific burns in a crash at the Nürburgring during the 1976 season and, despite making an astounding comeback just six weeks later, lost the title to McLaren’s James Hunt in the final GP of the season at Suzuka. Ferrari did win the constructors title though and, in 1977, despite not having the best season, Lauda regained the title for Ferrari in a triumph of consistency over speed.

Lauda then left for Brabham after being replaced by Gilles Villeneuve, a quick young French-Canadian. Villeneuve enjoyed a popular status amongst fans for his driving style and, although he never won a title, was considered to be a Ferrari legend.

Jody Scheckter, a highly-regarded South African driver, was signed to partner him and pipped Villeneuve to the 1979 title in a double-triumph for Ferrari who had comfortably sealed the constructors’ title in the same year.

The subsequent 1980 season was perhaps one of Ferrari’s worst ever. They lost ground in the continuously evolving race for development and came tenth in the constructors’ title having scored just eight points.

Ferrari would not win another drivers title until 2000, after 21 years of being ruled over by the dominant McLaren and Williams teams. They did manage three constructors’ titles in that barren period, but they were not enough for a team of Ferrari’s wealth and ambition.

Their luck started to change in 1999, when they built a seriously competitive car for double world champion Michael Schumacher to drive. But, when he broke his leg in a crash at Silverstone, McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen won the title ahead of Schumacher’s team-mate Eddie Irvine.

Schumacher would have his day though, going on to win five consecutive drivers and six constructors crowns with the dominant Italian team as years of frustration in their pursuit of glory were washed away triumphantly – almost as easily as they brushed aside the competition.

French manufacturer Renault then halted the Italian charge, winning back-to-back titles with Fernando Alonso before Kimi Raikkonen stole the title at the last GP of the 2007 season in Brazil from McLaren to give Ferrari their sixth ‘double title’ of a distinctly red-liveried decade.

Since then, Ferrari have only won a solitary constructors title in 2008 (although it was their seventh of the decade) and have hampered themselves with a succession of complex and ambitious, yet fruitless, car designs as they continue their passionate quest for success in Formula One.

So, having looked at the highs and lows of Ferrari’s participation in Formula One, it has to be said that not only do they deserve their reputation in the sport as a result of their colourful and captivating history, but also on the basis of their achievements within the sport.

Although they have been massively inconsistent, with periods of domination often followed by unprofitable and hapless spells of drought, they were always searching for wins and success – winning was their vocabulary, their language. Their fifteen drivers titles and sixteen constructors titles may not statistically carry a better win percentage than other famous teams like Williams and McLaren, who have not been involved in the sport since its inauguration, but the sheer scale of contribution to the sport that Ferrari has been responsible for is, perhaps, immeasurable.

Ferrari’s intrinsic value to F1 is incalculable and there is a magnetic love for them across the world which illustrates just how significant and resounding their impact has been throughout the 62 seasons that Formula One has spanned. Historically they are priceless and their success is unrivalled. They are Formula One royalty – the very embodiment of the sport – and their legendary reputation is unquestionably deserved.