Lewis Hamilton has taken victory in F1 on 105 occasions, but if 100 are removed from the reckoning, which five stand above all others?
Distilling Lewis Hamilton’s F1 victories down to a list of his five greatest is a near-impossible task, with a full century left on the cutting room floor.
Whilst not all of them were drives for the ages, particularly during the years of Mercedes dominance – and especially once Nico Rosberg retired at the end of 2016 – there are several notable omissions due to the diminutive nature of a top-five list.
Some of those included the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, 2008 Monaco, 2011 Chinese, 2012 United States, 2013 Hungarian, 2018 German, 2018 Italian, 2021 São Paulo, and, for its significance, the 2024 British – to prove they were neither forgotten nor not considered.
5. 2019 Monaco Grand Prix
One for the connoisseurs, perhaps, but Hamilton’s victory at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2019 was a unique blend of grit and finesse.
After starting from pole, the then five-time F1 drivers’ champion was brought in to pit under the safety car on lap 11, amid a messy opening phase to the race. Whilst the British driver was handed the medium compound Pirellis, Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel were fitted with the white-walled hard tyre.
When racing got back underway on lap 15, Hamilton was faced with the mammoth task of carrying his Mercedes 64 more laps to the flag and his 77th grand prix win.
Not shy in declaring his frustrations, the 39-year-old chastised race engineer Pete Bonnington for the call as he struggled to hold the eager Verstappen at bay.
It almost came to nought when the two made contact in the closing laps, but Hamilton nonetheless held on for a famed victory.
4. 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Whilst it could be considered an outlier amongst its peers, Hamilton’s win at the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix cannot be understated due to the gravity of the moment.
Having to dig deep in his highly controversial and ultimately contentious drivers’ championship battle with Verstappen, a gutsy drive was required when the stakes were at their highest, and he delivered with win number 103.
Fortunate to have secured pole position after the Dutchman put his Red Bull in the wall at the end of what would have been an all-time great qualifying lap, Hamilton nonetheless had to endure a barrage from Verstappen, who was set on throwing everything he could at the Mercedes driver.
Divebombs and alleged brake tests ensued, but through it all Hamilton retained his composure, setting the two drivers up for a title finale in Abu Dhabi equal on points.
As the calm to Verstappen’s storm, it was a performance symptomatic of Hamilton’s character and the season he put together.
3. 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix
If the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix crash captured Hamilton’s by-then fraught relationship with Rosberg in a moment, the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix encapsulated the promise and potential of what would grow to be one of the most intense and fiercely-fought team-mate battles in F1 history.
Early in their first title-winning season together, Rosberg had the upper hand on his champion inter-team rival. Heading to the third round ahead on points, the German driver was the faster of the two at the Bahrain International Circuit. However, somehow, Hamilton came out on top.
It is a race that will long be remembered for the close, but fairly-engaged fight between the pair – something that would not prevail as things became increasingly toxic within the team.
Hamilton conjured victory out of seemingly nowhere. In doing so, he set the tone for the seasons to come. Rosberg enjoyed an off-set strategy, stronger pace and fortuitous timing of a safety car to preserve the softer tyres in the closing stages, but yet still he could not beat Hamilton, who proved that sometimes a calculated and considered performance will hold out.
2. 2020 Turkish Grand Prix
Quintessential Hamilton. His drive in the race in which he secured his Michael Schumacher record-matching seventh F1 drivers’ championship was intelligent, skilful and plainly audacious, three ingredients that underline his brilliance.
The Mercedes W11 was formidable, make no mistake, but in conditions at Istanbul Park that levelled the playing field, Hamilton pulled himself onto a higher plane, reducing his intermediate tyres to slicks as the track beneath him dried.
A new track surface at the first Turkish Grand Prix since 2011, compounded by cold and wet conditions, produced a slippery and treacherous circuit for the field to navigate, and yet, despite starting sixth, Hamilton held his nerve.
Despite being strong off the line, it was a shaky first lap for the 39-year-old as he rose to fourth only to fall back again to sixth due to an off-track excursion.
As those around him had their wobbly moments, Hamilton held off the temptation to pit for new, quicker tyres, persevering on his older set as the lap times came back towards him, ultimately taking the chequered flag over half a minute clear of Sergio Perez in second place.
1. 2008 British Grand Prix
Sixteen-and-a-half years later, and a further 98 grand prix victories on, Hamilton is yet to top win number seven, a superlative drive from fourth on the grid to take the chequered flag over a minute ahead of Nick Heidfeld in second position.
Not only is it the future Ferrari driver’s greatest individual triumph, it is one of the best wins in the history of F1.
Torrid, changeable conditions at Silverstone saw several drivers spin out and his championship rivals falter. Launching from the second row to nearly take the race lead from team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in the opening metres set the tone for the race to unfold.
It was not a straightforward victory, either. At one point, Hamilton was three seconds a lap slower on intermediate tyres when the track was calling for extreme wets.
However, not needing to stop again afforded him the opportunity to build his lead to the point he lapped the entire field up to and including Kimi Raikkonen in fourth.
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