Get In There, Lewis!

The pic above was my text exchange with a good friend, a McLaren fan from Atlanta, who will be visiting me in Chicago a couple of weeks. I sent this message last night on the eve of the Silverstone British Grand Prix.

For those who don’t know, I also write about food for a living (a partial living anyway), and my friend and I were planning on visiting one of Chicago’s very best restaurants when he arrived. We were just going to use it as an opportunity to catch up, but last night I decided to change karma and suggest that the dinner would instead be a celebration of what I was certain would happen in the morning.

I was not actually sure. Rather I was hoping to change karma with a little outlandishness.  George was on pole, Max is the king, and Lando was destined. Everything suggested a different outcome, but, as true champions do, Lewis found a way to win. I take full credit for everything.

Just kidding. The reality is the uncertainty of rain and the poor strategy of McLaren ceding the undercut to Mercedes and compounding things with a slow pit stop gave the win away. McLaren also killed themselves in the constructors’ race by favoring Lando in the early stages by rejecting the perils of a double stack pit stop, which cost Oscar Piastri a potential first or second place finish by forcing him to do another lap on incredibly slow intermediate tires.

Mercedes wasn’t flawless. They somehow found a way to ruin George Russell’s home race with a hydraulic issue that led to one heartbreaking Silver Arrows’ retirement. But, they made up for it by guiding Hamilton to home sweet home, aka the top step of the podium after a 2.5 year absence.

It wasn’t quite the motorsports version of Tiger Woods coming out of the wilderness to unexpectedly win the 2019 Masters, but it wasn’t far off.  At 39 and a half years old, Hamilton became the oldest race winner of the 21^st century, a nine time winner at Silverstone (no one has ever won more races at a single circuit), and he bested Kimi Raikkonen’s record (15 years) by establishing a  17 year and 1 month length between his first and last grand prix wins.

After 103 wins and seven championships, you’d think a G.O.A.T. would never be uncertain, but Lewis proved he was just like us, crying in relief, hugging his parents, and his longtime race engineer Peter “Bono” Bonnington. In the post-race interview Lewis admitted there’d been many dark days, a question as to whether he could still compete at this level, and a wonder as to whether win 104 would ever come.

But it did, and for the second straight week we got to hear God Save the King. We understood that no matter how dire things look, that if you put in the work and keep at it everyday, that’s the only way you’re ever gonna get the chance to take it all. You might not, but if you don’t put yourself in the arena, then it’s certain you never will.

Hamilton is the sixth driver to win in 2024, which is remarkable given that there were only 3 different race winners last year due to Max’s dominance. How many more will there be?  Piastri, who made a hell of a pass half in the wet grass on Russell today, is probably due, and heck you never know about some kind of Alonso surprise, although he was outqualified for the fifth time this year at Silverstone by Lance Stroll, which, LOL.

This brings us to the fact that Red Bull is also giving things away these days. The first gift was signing Checo too early in the silly season to which he responded by driving like an absolute dog, which continued this weekend with beaching his car in gravel during qualifying.

Red Bull is also a remarkable study in the importance of engineering leadership. Ever since Adrian Newey started distancing himself from the paddock in preparation for some gardening leave and a unification with Hamilton at Ferrari, the Bulls have dropped off.

Certainly the other teams have been working double time to catch up, but it also shows how thin the dominance line is. You need a top gangster in the garage, also evidenced by the loss and return of James Allison at Mercedes, at all times if you want to maintain what is arguably the most impressive three year stretch in the sport (at least by a single driver).

Speaking of early season dominance, Ferrari’s fall from grace continues as Leclerc once again got hosed. And you knew he would. Sky Sports did too, literally telling the Prancing Horse not to pit him too early for intermediate tires before the rain started on the broadcast. Ferrari clearly doesn’t like to do what they’re told, even if it’s sound advice, because they immediately brought in Charles and hosed his race.

If you’re Hamilton, who made a choice move from McLaren to Mercedes at the right time, you’re wondering now looking at the Maranello-based clown car, whether next year at Ferrari might be a mistake?  It remains to be seen, but for now there’s a second half of the season left at Mercedes and 105 wins sounds like a good round number.