Former McLaren Mechanic shares stories about Lewis Hamilton’s attention to detail and why Kimi Raikkonen could only win 1 title.
Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers in the history of F1. He holds the records for the most wins, pole positions and podiums, and the joint highest number of Championship titles.
Hamilton is an example of what a complete race car driver can be like. He is not only fast on the track but also a very communicative person with his team and engineers.
He is extremely fast and adapts well to various in-race conditions. But the Briton also pays great attention to detail and feedback from his technical team to improve his performance.
This allows him to squeeze every bit of performance and has enabled him to win numerous achievements throughout his career. And his former McLaren mechanic rates this attribute as one of his biggest strengths.
Marc Priestley worked as a McLaren F1 teams race mechanic between 2002 to 2009. He worked under Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso during his time.
Priestley shared that Hamilton used to pay attention to the tiny details even when he was a rookie in 2007. And the things he learnt allowed him to challenge for the title in his first year in F1.
And that’s why Priestley thinks Hamilton is one of the best in the sport. “When you look at Lewis, he is a 7-time World Champion. So, of course, he is one of the best. But even that’s not the whole story.”
He adds, “You must know what they are like outside the car and how they interact with the team. What comprises of what a good F1 driver is not just the bit behind the wheel.” Proving how far Lewis was even at that age.
Also Read: Fernando Alonso bribed McLaren mechanics with $1500 to avoid working on Lewis Hamilton’s car
Why Kimi Raikkonen was not as successful as Lewis Hamilton
Priestley was asked who the best two F1 drivers were. And he immediately told Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
So when questions arose as to why he did not believe 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen was on the list, he had a simple answer. It was because Alonso and Hamilton were better drivers outside of the track.
Priestley said both Hamilton and Alonso used the data provided by the team and heard the insights. Kimi was the fastest overall but did not interact with the team.
And had Kimi done this, he’d have been far ahead. Priestley said, “Kimi was the fastest over a lap. In his day, nobody was close to him.
He adds, “But Kimi was far from being the complete F1 driver. He won one World Championship, so you can’t knock him. But I firmly believe had he applied himself like Lewis Hamilton; he could have won many more championships.”
Priestley says both Hamilton and Alonso applied their best and paid attention to the finest details to perform better. And that’s why he believed the two won more titles than the Finn.
While Raikkonen was least interested in anything but driving, he hated the media and was a man of very few words, both of which decided his fate.
Also Read: Kimi Raikkonen shaved McLaren mechanic’s head out of settling score
