View From The Bridge

Since 2017, there have been 80 Formula One Grand Prix. This means that in the last 4 years, someone other than Mercedes has had 80 SEPARATE chances to win just ONE race. Mercedes have won 52 – Hamilton winning 43 of them. I’m pretty sure even Mercedes fans are now sick of seeing Hamilton and wingman Bottas on the F1 podium, but their dominance as a driver line-up has started to raise some questions – mainly, are they the greatest 1-2 punch in F1 history?    Not even close.    It’s no secret that the fanfare around F1 has gone stale in recent years, and Mercedes dominance is the pièce de résistance. Since Valtteri Bottas joined in 2017, Mercedes have had a 65%-win rate and earned a combined 2,673 points. Hamilton (otherwise known as Batman) has won 43 races in this time, with Bottas winning a very Robin-like 9. Yet, it isn’t something we haven’t seen before – in fact, it’s been a lot worse.  The key difference is that despite there being dominance, it was a ...

I think it's fair to say that the 2020 F1 season was underwhelming, to say the least, with the only 2 major stories being Russell's rollercoaster weekend at Mercedes and Romain Grosjean's immortalisation as the man who walked out of fire. With fans growing increasingly tired of Mercedes dominance, the FIA has finally put a cap on team spending, meaning we should see a much more intriguing F1 season heading into 2021, and if all goes to plan, we might even see new drivers and constructors world champions by the season's end.  Hamilton vs Verstappen  2021 not only represents the worlds hopeful exit from Covid-19 but also could be the year where Hamilton actually has to overtake another car. As the most successful driver in F1 history, most of the past decade has had fans watch Hamilton lead a glorified parade for 60 laps before taking the chequered flag. However, Red Bull and Verstappen see 2021 as their best shot at ending Mercedes 7 year streak as constructors champions...

Sporting analytics have become a major factor in all of the sports, with its ability to be the great equalizer in comparing past heroes with present talent. Within Formula One, one man who is quickly breaking all statistical milestones before him is a 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton. Spanning over a 14-year career, Hamilton ranks within the elite in most categories including pole positions (1 st ), wins (2 nd ), and championships (1 st ); finishing only behind F1 legends such as Michael Schumacher and Jack Villeneuve. So, if one was just to look at the numbers, there is no doubt that Lewis Hamilton is one of the (if not the) most dominating Formula One drivers of all time. However, if you probe a little deeper, Hamilton has never been one to battle it out at the back of the pack with the likes of Toro Rosso or Williams; scrambling for points as the runts of the field. Instead, even as a rookie, Hamilton has consistently been on the front row, competing with the best drivers the p...