Mercedes chiefs have spoken about the traits they believe makes Lewis Hamilton one of the best ever in Formula 1.
This season, in the face of stiff competition from Max Verstappen and Red Bull, the Briton has been proving why he’s a worthy seven-time world champion with 100 poles and almost a century of wins.
In fact, with three wins, a second and a fastest lap, Hamilton actually has the highest points tally of his career so far after four races, and Mercedes think they know why he is only getting stronger.
“Natural talent, he’s got an incredible work ethic as well but he is the whole package,” sporting director Ron Meadows claimed.
“You can’t find any weakness in Lewis. Over time he has just got stronger.”
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Head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin then highlighted the attention to detail Hamilton has.
“It’s not just one area, it’s the fact that every time he doesn’t win a race, he goes and works out why he didn’t win it and why the next time that happens he will win it instead of whoever else did,” he said.
“It’s this relentless understanding and improving process that he goes through that I think must be quite exhausting because it never really stops.
“He just keeps getting better and better. He’s obviously broken all records but to see a driver who has achieved so much still working for every win like it’s their first, which is really what he does, you can see why he is where he is.
“It’s down to hard work, dedication and just this relentless urge to keep winning.”
Back at Imola, and on various previous occasions, however, there was another quality that Hamilton put on show that chief strategist James Vowles concluded on.
“Where his strengths lie, Shov [Shovlin] summed it up brilliantly, he never gives up ever,” he declares.
“You don’t see his head drop during a race, he doesn’t think ‘I am 12th I am going to give up now’ he just wants to know what is ahead of him and how to keep fighting.
“In fact, often we’re the ones that have to tell him ‘you just need to accept where you are now because what in front of you is not achievable anymore’. That strength is what allows you even when you’re on the backfoot, to push forward and fire his way through.
“There’s so many races that all of us have had the privilege to have with him where he’s not the leading car out of the two, he’s the one fighting tooth and nail at the back and you know he’s going to give everything, he’s not going to back off or give up.
“He may be frustrated and upset if you made a mistake or put him into a situation that is difficult, but he delivers on it and that’s what he has always done in all the time we’ve been with him.”