Brawn: Hamilton, an “incredible” driver

Amidst all the scandal provoked by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Esteban Ocon (Racing Point Force India) in Brazil, the performance of Mercedes and his favorite pilot Lewis Hamilton has taken a back seat. Not for Ross Brawn, who spoke at length about the qualities of the duo in his letter every Tuesday following a race.

The Managing Director Motor Sports for the Formula 1 did not first of all fail to notice that “For the first time, Lewis Hamilton won an event after winning a world title.” In 2015, then 2017, the Briton was accused of slackening as soon as he acquired the crown, with for example an off-track during testing… in Brazil.

For Ross Brawn, this race at Interlagos is a summary of all the qualities of the Mercedes-Hamilton pair used in 2018; « Lewis managed to win even though his car was not the fastest in qualifying. This is mainly thanks to his better work regarding the management of his car, with the help of the pit wall. »

We 'might' have just caught up in the moment a bit… #BrazilGP #F1

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- Mercedes-AMG F1 (@ MercedesAMGF1) November 12, 2018

Main asset of the five-time world champion according to the former technical head of Benetton or Ferrari : his intelligence behind the wheel. “It seemed a little tight in terms of the reliability of the power unit and the tires, but Hamilton knew when to attack, set fast laps or even fast sectors. He knew when to control the situation, by matching his pace to that of his rivals”, he analyzes.

This is one of the skills that makes Lewis so incredible, and he has demonstrated this quality on numerous occasions this year. » Certainly, but the incident involving Max Verstappen, then at the head of the race, didn't she give him success on a plate?

#DrivenByEachOther pic.twitter.com/t2ZU3aV71g

- Mercedes-AMG F1 (@ MercedesAMGF1) November 12, 2018

« It's easy to say. But Lewis was there, less than three seconds away, determined to seize any opportunity that presented itself. Finally, when she showed up, he then did everything to keep the Dutchman in his wake. »

And to conclude with a statistic which says a lot about the Englishman's domination in F1. “In the hybrid Formula 1 era, he won 50 times in 99 starts. » That’s an exceptional success rate of 50,51%! Every other time since March 2014, Lewis Hamilton lifts the winner's cup.

Discover the analysis of the Brazilian GP carried out by our special correspondents in AUTO issue 2191hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.