Sky Sports F1 rank Lewis Hamilton’s 10 best wins during his time at Mercedes, ahead of his last race with the team at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix…
10) Monaco GP 2019: Holding off a new rival
Max Verstappen emerged as Hamilton’s next superstar rival and their 2019 head-to-head in Monaco remains one of their most intense race-long battles.
Verstappen was in Hamilton’s wing mirrors for the majority of the race – evoking Monte Carlo memories of Ayrton Senna vs Nigel Mansell in 1992 – and Hamilton’s task was made all the more difficult by the fact Mercedes admitted to giving him the ‘wrong’ medium tyres, which their lead driver had to make last for more than 60 laps.
Verstappen tried with all his might, even making contact with the Mercedes when diving into the chicane with three laps to go, but Hamilton placed his car to perfection at all times. Given that his good friend and mentor Niki Lauda had passed away earlier that week, Hamilton’s win was all the more impressive.
9) Hungary 2013: The first of many at Mercedes
Eyebrows were raised when Hamilton swapped McLaren for what was a relatively raw Mercedes outfit but, after Nico Rosberg proved the W04’s pace with two victories leading up to Round 10 at the Hungaroring, Hamilton delivered his first for the Silver Arrows in style.
Defying pre-race expectations, soaring heat and two world champions in Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Hamilton converted pole into what was an unexpectedly crushing victory in Hungary. Those dominant performances were replicated repeatedly over the next decade.
8) Italian GP 2018: Breaking Ferrari hearts
Hamilton overcame a Ferrari front row to land another big punch against title rival Vettel at Monza in 2018 with a superb drive on, effectively, away soil.
He went around the outside of Vettel at the second chicane, with the pair making contact and the Ferrari driver spinning.
Raikkonen would be a much tougher challenge to deal with though as Hamilton overtook the Finn on an early Safety Car restart, but lost the lead at the next corner.
He spent the next 40 laps staring at the back of the flying Ferrari, which had incredible straight-line speed, before making a great move into the first corner with nine laps to go – this time not giving up first place and holding onto the win.
7) Brazilian GP 2016: An unseen wet-weather masterclass
All the talk about the 2016 F1 race in Sao Paulo was about Verstappen’s stunning drive to third as he came back through the field in heavy rain.
But, up front, Hamilton was in a league of his own in a must-win race to keep his championship hopes realistically alive against Rosberg, who finished 11 seconds behind his Mercedes team-mate.
Perhaps not as famous as his 2008 Silverstone victory for McLaren, but another performance in the wet which went under the radar.
6) German GP 2018: A championship-defining comeback
Hockenheim 2018 was certainly one of the more remarkable days of Hamilton’s remarkable career.
The Briton had lost title momentum to Vettel heading into the weekend – and his mood became even worse when he suffered a disastrous qualifying failure which left him 14th on the grid. Hamilton had never won from lower than sixth.
But after storming through the field, Hamilton then capitalised on the wet-dry conditions to close in on Vettel, before his big rival beached his car into the gravel. It was an amazing win, and crucial to Hamilton winning his fifth crown.
5) Bahrain GP 2021: Fighting off Verstappen in stunning season-opener
The first race of the 2021 season set the tone for what was to come. Verstappen started on pole but Hamilton undercut him and cheekily played with the track limits rules by running wide at Turn Four during the first half of the race, to gain lap time.
Verstappen had fresher tyres for the last stint and set about chasing down the Mercedes driver. With five laps to go, Verstappen went for it around the outside at Turn Four but overtook Hamilton off the track.
He conceded the position later in the lap and Hamilton held him off in an epic season-opener.
4) British GP 2024: Ninth Silverstone win ends drought
After losing out to Verstappen in a cruel climax to the 2021 season, a change in regulations saw Hamilton’s Mercedes team fall out of regular contention for race wins.
His team-mate George Russell had managed to snatch a couple of victories, but Hamilton had gone 56 Grands Prix without climbing to the top step of the podium going into Silverstone 2024.
It was a race befitting the enormity of the victory to Hamilton, with a dry-wet-dry thriller ending with Verstappen chasing down the Mercedes in the closing laps.
Hamilton managed his tyres superbly on the final stint to hold on, claiming a ninth victory at Silverstone to break the tie he shared with Michael Schumacher for the most wins at the same race.
3) Bahrain GP 2014: The duel in the desert
Even after just one race in 2014, it was abundantly clear that Mercedes had aced the new regulations, and that Hamilton and Rosberg would almost certainly be exclusive title challengers.
With that in mind, beating his team-mate in an epic race-long duel at Bahrain was all-important for Hamilton – not just for his second world title, but his Mercedes career.
Time and time again Rosberg passed Hamilton up the inside, but time and time again the latter responded, excelling when attacking and defending in wheel-to-wheel combat, particularly at the end of the race when his team-mate had a big tyre advantage.
2) Turkish GP 2020: Tyre heroics to win seventh world title
Hamilton is known for his impressive tyre management and the greatest evidence he showed provided of this was in Istanbul 2020.
Stuck in traffic in damp conditions, Hamilton pitted early for intermediates and was forced to play the patient game as overtaking was difficult.
As the track dried out, drivers ahead of him pitted for new intermediates but Hamilton bravely stayed out, timing an overtake on Racing Point driver Sergio Perez perfectly then remarkably did not come into the pits for new rubber, unlike most of his rivals.
He effectively turned his intermediates into slicks on the near-dry track and won by more than half a minute to also equal Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles in fine fashion.
1) Sao Paulo GP 2021: The comeback of all comebacks
Amid the intensity of what would become the sport’s most famous title battle, between Hamilton and Verstappen, a DRS infringement in qualifying would leave Hamilton starting from the back of the grid for Saturday’s Sprint.
He would come fifth in the Sprint but a five-place penalty for taking a new engine would see him start the full-length race from 10th.
A brilliant start saw Hamilton climb to fifth inside five laps, and then past Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Perez to go second on lap 19.
Overtaking Verstappen would prove more difficult as fierce defending from the Dutchman forced Hamilton off track at Turn Four, before the Mercedes driver finally got past his rival in the closing stages to reduce his championship deficit.
Speaking in 2023, Hamilton described the win as “the most special race” of his career. In terms of driving, you will find it hard to name a better performance across a weekend from a driver in F1 history.
Watch the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season – the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – live this coming week on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race at 1pm. Get Sky Sports F1 or stream with NOW
