It wouldn’t be an understatement to crown Lewis Hamilton as the greatest F1 rookie of all time. After all, you don’t always see a driver lose the championship by just one point in his debut year. The McLaren prodigy, however, didn’t have to wait too long to cover the ground as he managed to win his first title the very next year in 2008.
One would believe that must be etched in his mind among the greatest achievements of his career. However, it couldn’t be far from the truth. In fact, Hamilton did not really ‘enjoy’ his first title win until after seven years when he was a three-time champion. There are at least two reasons behind that.
Firstly, Hamilton wasn’t in the best place mentally in his personal life to enjoy the feat. Secondly, he always wanted to be like his racing idol — Ayrton Senna. Knowing that the Brazilian great was a three-time champion before his sad demise, Hamilton simply couldn’t rest until he reached that stature.
Speaking on the Performance People podcast with Georgie Ainslie, he said, “The first one [championship win] I didn’t enjoy because it wasn’t just a great time for me. The second one, [I] was like, ‘made the right decision [on moving to Mercedes from McLaren], and I proved everyone wrong. Great.’ So I could sleep.”
“But then the next one felt like, ‘Okay, this really means something because that’s also what Ayrton won.'”, he added.
In his first year in F1, Hamilton teamed up with two-time champion Fernando Alonso and both lost the title by one point. After winning his first championship in 2008, McLaren’s performance nosedived which led him to jump ship to Mercedes in 2013, a move that came under heavy scrutiny. His first two years with the Silver Arrows saw him fight to prove the naysayers wrong.
Hamilton might have to go through a similar ordeal with Ferrari
In what came as a shock to many, Hamilton announced his departure from Mercedes earlier this year. The seven-time champion announced his impending move to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
While a section of the fans and experts criticized the move, citing Ferrari’s title-less run since 2008; others found it the right time to jump ship, a year before the start of the new regulations coming in 2026.
It’s the first section of fans and critics he needs to prove wrong. If that is not enough motivation, the record-breaking eighth title should be it. All that Hamilton needs to do is tap into the mentality of his 2014 self and lead Ferrari with the experience of the seven-time champion that he is.
