By the time we got to qualifying, however, the red cars started to unlock some serious speed and Hamilton lost out to George Russell by just 0.064sec to get on the front row. Charles Leclerc also could have been up there if not for his error at Turn 4 which left him down in 10th. Ferrari has been criticised – often deservedly – for its odd strategic decisions in recent years but when I looked out of the commentary box window and saw the red-walled soft tyres on Lewis’s car, I was really impressed. That sent a message that it was in an aggressive ‘chasing the win’ mindset, rather than a ‘we’ll just do the normal race and try and get a podium’.
“Lewis came out of the pits 25sec behind Russell and went on a charge”
To execute a strategy requires the buy-in from the driver who is able to see the big picture and, most importantly, deliver it. Lewis did this brilliantly in Spain back in 2021 when he was at Mercedes against Max Verstappen and Red Bull, switching to a late three-stopper. And once again here, he did what the great drivers are capable of doing. When there is a sniff of a chance of victory, these champions find another gear and rise to the occasion – think of Schumacher in Budapest in 1998.
The key was Lewis’s stint on the medium tyres after his second stop. He came out of the pits 25sec behind George Russell and went on an absolute charge, taking several seconds out of his former team-mate’s lead. Before long, the gap was down to just over 12sec when the virtual safety car was deployed, which gave him a cheap pitstop to come out in front. Without the VSC, I still think Lewis would have caught George and passed him in the final stint, such was the pace advantage.
Would he have beaten Kimi Antonelli if Mercedes swapped their cars earlier? That would have been harder but in the end it’s irrelevant as Kimi’s car broke down anyway.
Lewis and Ferrari winning is good for Formula 1. In the run up to the British Grand Prix, seeing an all-British podium for the first time since 1968 is going to be an extra boost for the fans heading to Silverstone. A repeat of that podium will create an explosion of noise that will be felt across the land down to Buckingham Palace!