Shanghai: In 2011, Lewis Hamilton took second place at the Korean Grand Prix in what was a remarkable drive in an underperforming McLaren. Sebastian Vettel was the winner but Hamilton, a second a lap slower than the two Red Bulls and suffering from understeer owing to debris stuck in the front wing, held off Mark Webber for 34 laps to secure the place.
The McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, said: “I can’t speak more highly of the drive he did in those circumstances,” and it really was a striking achievement. Hamilton, much to everyone’s surprise, saw it differently. “If you expect me to be all happy-doolally after a race like that you’re not going to hear it,” he said.
It emerged a week later he had been splitting up with his girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger at the time. Hamilton, as ever, had his heart on sleeve and it went a long way to explaining his post-race feelings.
Showing emotion is one of the British driver’s traits that seems to rile many of his detractors. Hamilton speaks his mind, angry or happy, as critic or champion and is not ashamed to express himself or indulge in the things he enjoys, and it clearly rubs some people the wrong way.
Formula One is all the better for it — personalities in the paddock are few and having a driver who promotes it beyond the aficionados is good for the sport. Equally it is an openness that can be telling and that is also a boon for F1. His language, both of the body and verbal variety, after coming second to Vettel at the opening grand prix of this season in Australia was intriguing.
There was no trace of the Korean temperament in Melbourne — just the opposite. He emerged looking satisfied the result was as good as he might have expected, was gracious in defeat to Vettel — who had deserved the victory — and was fulsome in his praise for the Ferrari driver. Most importantly, it gave the impression he was enjoying the prospect of having a competitive rival for the title.
“We have a great driver in Sebastian,” Hamilton said. “Four titles and an incredible surge into Formula One, he continues to be a force and will be for many years to come. I am really grateful I am able to have that fight with him and against Ferrari.”
Hamilton is at heart a racer and this challenge seems to excite him far more than the three years he spent in what often seemed like a joyless and fractious to and fro with his former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
Perhaps it is the fact he and Vettel have never had an extended title fight against one another, despite having won seven of the past nine F1 titles between them.
Hamilton won his first in 2008, Jenson Button won for Brawn in 2009 and between 2010 and 2013 Vettel claimed his four titles in a dominant Red Bull during which time Hamilton had been in with a shout at the last race in 2010 but was the least likely of the four contenders to take it. Vettel similarly had been adrift of the Mercedes cars that secured Hamilton two further titles in the past three years.
Albert Park is a difficult track from which to judge form but should Ferrari prove in China on Sunday they have the pace to make a fight of it, the prospect Hamilton so clearly relishes may well be a real one. It is exactly what F1 needs — a battle between two teams and drivers acknowledged to be among the best of their generation.
Vettel is no slouch in managing to vex large numbers of fans but is currently the smiling optimistic model rather than the angry and frustrated figure he cut with Ferrari last year. The German has been positive about Hamilton and both drivers are in good places with themselves and each other.
A duel for the world title will put that bonhomie under pressure and be all the more entertaining for it. F1 has been defined by great rivalries and they have the chance to make theirs the standout showdown of this era.
Sadly the other great driver of this generation will yet again be playing no part, with Fernando Alonso struggling with his McLaren’s lack of power on the big straights in Shanghai this weekend.
Hamilton noted in Australia it was a shame the Spaniard would not be in the battle and it is a disappointment. The second of the 35-year-old’s world titles came in 2006 and the McLaren is not going to provide a chance for a third this year.
Their difficult relationship with Honda, who had been expected to make great strides with their new power unit, is going to be sorely tested again in China. The lack of horsepower will be exposed far more than was the case at Albert Park.
The McLaren executive director, Zak Brown, has ruled out building their own engines and although the team are understood to have sounded out the possibility of returning to Mercedes, he is insistent they remain committed to Honda.
Alonso’s reactions to his car’s performance in Shanghai could be every bit as fascinating as anything Vettel and Hamilton serve up.
