Lewis Hamilton Finally Benefits from Luck After Taking Lead in F1 Title Battle
"Luck does not come into it," was the title of the official season-review DVD of the 2008 Formula One season, the campaign which saw Lewis Hamilton claim his only world championship to date.
It refers, of course, to the final few laps of that year's Brazilian Grand Prix, when the British driver, then of McLaren, went from a comfortable title-taking position to the verge of disaster, then back again to ultimately win the title by one point ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Almost six years later, that rainy afternoon at the Interlagos circuit remains the defining day of his career, not only because he ended it with the crown on his head but due to the fact that it sums Hamilton up to an absolute tee.
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The 29-year-old has, ever since he burst onto the scene at just 22 in 2007, had a reputation for doing things the hard way, whether from self-inflicted obstacles or whether external factors conspire against him.
He is a three- or four-time world champion trapped in the career of a one-title wonder, with luck—more often than not—at the root of his failure to scoop more accolades.
Even in 2014, a season which marks his best shot at the championship since 2008, luck has tried its best to undermine his efforts behind the wheel.
Hamilton has arguably been the faster, classier driver in his inter-team and title fight with Nico Rosberg, his Mercedes teammate, this year—but has all too often been let down by misfortune and unreliability, which have haunted him since the very start of the season.
The No. 44 Mercedes retired just two laps into the season-opening Australian Grand Prix—just 24 hours after setting an assured pole position—with an engine problem.
Hamilton was denied one last shot at pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix after Rosberg's infamous off-track adventure led to the deployment of yellow flags, while a vision problem the following day prevented him from hounding his stablemate to the chequered flag.
A slight lock-up in the latter stages of qualifying in Canada saw him miss out on another pole, with two mistake-riddled laps in Austria leaving him ninth on the grid.
An innocent misjudgment of conditions proved costly at Silverstone, where he started sixth on the grid, with a brake failure on the Saturday of the German Grand Prix resulting in a trip to the wall.
Hamilton's car burst into flames at the start of qualifying in Hungary, with another brake issue leaving him settling for second on the grid at Spa, where he was forced to retire after being tapped by Rosberg on the second lap of the grand prix.
The beauty about luck—both good and bad—however, is that it runs out eventually.
And since Hamilton dropped from first to fourth off the line at the start of the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, the gods have done nothing but look favourably upon the British driver.
Rosberg's lock-up at Monza's first chicane was, in hindsight, the turning point in terms of luck for both Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton not only handed the race victory but the momentum in the title race due to the German's mistake in Italy.
And luck bit Rosberg even harder in this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix, with the German forced to retire from the race—his second DNF of the season—after just 13 miserable laps having suffered a fundamental electronics glitch, according to the official F1 website.
As a result, that 29-point lead that Rosberg had over Hamilton after the Belgian Grand Prix has, after just 113 laps of motor racing at Monza and Marina Bay, become a three-point deficit with just five grands prix of the season remaining—a reminder, perhaps, of how a change of luck can change the entire complexion of a campaign.
Hamilton's own race in Singapore, however—his seventh win of 2014—had very little to do with luck.
With the dominant yet increasingly brittle Mercedes W05 at his disposal, all he had to do was keep the car out of the walls and try his best to avoid the issues which befell Rosberg to claim the all-important 25 points.
Nevertheless, the style with which he handled—along with Peter Bonnington, his race engineer—the curveball that was the safety car period on Lap 31 was a testament to his ability to handle pressure, something that might have led to his downfall in previous years.
His ability to stretch his lead over second-placed Sebastian Vettel to 25.2 seconds, according to the official F1 website, by the time of his final pit stop on Lap 52 put the race result beyond any doubt even though Hamilton had to complete the formality of passing the reigning world champion, who was by that stage on old tyres, for the lead on the 54th lap.
Hamilton's regaining of the momentum and the points lead for the first time since May's Spanish Grand Prix—as well as his change of luck—has come at the perfect time.
And it offered a telling message to his peers: You make your own luck in this game.
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