Lewis Hamilton at age 40 has more than earned his place as a genuine Formula One legend and perhaps the sport’s most recognizable global celebrity. But at the Belgian Grand Prix qualifiers on Saturday, he sure didn’t look the part.
The winner of seven world championships â a record he shares with perhaps the greatest driver that F1 has ever seen, Michael Schumacher â Hamilton simply could not get going in the qualifying round, suffering elimination in Q1, a result that led him to apologize to the Ferrari team.
In a dramatic move, the British driver joined Ferrari prior to the 2024 season, in a shock switch from Mercedes, the team where he spent the past 12 seasons and won six of his seven championships.
Hamilton Apologizes to Ferrari After Qualifiers
“I’ve got to look internally and apologize to the team because it’s unacceptable to be out in Q1, it’s very very poor performance,” Hamilton said after the qualifiers, as quoted by ESPN.com. “It’s incredibly painful.”
And then, in Sunday’s rain-delayed race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium’s Ardennes region, the winner of 105 F1 Grand Prix races â another record, held by himself this time, 14 wins ahead of Schumacher â found some degree of redemption.
Relegated to the 16th position, and starting out of the pit lane after receiving a new power unit, Hamilton immediately overtook Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto and Nico Hülkenberg in the course of a single lap.
11-Place Comeback Well Short of 42-Year-Old Record
In the first 14 laps of the race, Hamilton moved up to seventh position. That was as far as he could go, unable to get past the Williams car driven by Alex Albon.
Hamilton finished at No. 7 for a remarkable comeback of 11 places start to finish.
As impressive as Hamilton’s comeback was, at least making his frustrating weekend at Spa worth something after all, it was far from the greatest comeback from a low starting slot in F1 history.
That record belongs to McLaren driver John Watson in 1983. In fact, Watson’s record will never be broken, at least not without some mahout changes to the sport.
Watson started the 1983 United States Grand Prix West in Long Beach, California, in the 22nd position on the grid â but went on to win the race. With F1 now containing 10 teams with two cars per race, the grid is capped at 20. The chance of a 21-slot gain is off the table.
Schumacher Set Belgian Record in 1995
At the Belgian Grand Prix, the owner of largest single comeback is none other than Schumacher, the all-time great idolized by Hamilton and numerous other F1 drivers.
In the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix, also run under rainy conditions as often happens at Spa, Schumacher started at the 16th position and came back to win the race. But according to a historical account by GrandPrix.com, “it was a brilliant performance but a controversial one because Michael’s outrageous blocking of Damon Hill when the German was on slicks in the wet and the Englishman was on wets – traveling much faster – was disgraceful and unsporting.”
Hill, who at the time was the German driver’s arch-rival, was irate after the race, shouting in Schumacher’s face even as the global TV cameras broadcast the whole scene.
Dutch driver Max Verstappen, who won Saturday’s sprint race at Spa, placed fourth on Sunday. But he also boasts an phenomenal comeback on his resumé, charging from the 16th position at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix to win the race.
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