Lewis Hamilton shocked the Formula 1 paddock when he announced his exit from McLaren in 2012 so he could move to Mercedes.
At the time, Mercedes could not match McLaren on track, and the racing pedigree of the team coupled with their results on track led many to believe Hamilton had made a mistake.
But it turned out to be a masterstroke in Hamilton’s career, as the move preceded a dominant 2014 season in which F1 switched to hybrid engines and Mercedes emerged as the team to beat.
Before the 2014 season, questions were asked over whether Hamilton would win again and add to the Silver Arrows’ illustrious history.
It took Mercedes two years to start winning with Michael Schumacher in their car. When the seven-time world champion announced his retirement, it was time for Hamilton to step in.
Lewis Hamilton’s first victory with Mercedes at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix
It was a mixed start to the season for Hamilton at Mercedes with podiums in Malaysia, China and Canada. Hamilton had also qualified on pole for the Spanish and British Grands Prix, but the Mercedes W04 was tough on its tyres.
Things would change in Hungary when Hamilton qualified on pole for the race, at a track that is notorious for being difficult to overtake.
Despite commenting that it would be a “miracle” if he won the race because of the high temperatures impacting Mercedes (via BBC), Hamilton would remain in control throughout the race having led off the line.
The only time Hamilton lost the lead was to Mark Webber during his first pit stop, but he managed to regain it when the Australian made his first pit stop 23 laps into the race.
Hamilton had crucially given himself clean air by passing Jenson Button on the pit straight after his first stop, then later passed Webber with a move at Turn 2, which fed into an overtake at Turn 3, echoing where Nigel Mansell passed Ayrton Senna for the win in 1989.
‘It was Hamilton’s fourth win at Hungary out of seven races, and with it, he proved wrong some of his critics who said he’d find it tough to be successful at Mercedes.
Lewis Hamilton proved Jackie Stewart and Derek Warwick wrong with Hungarian GP win
One of Hamilton’s early critics was three-time world champion Jackie Stewart, who rightly pointed out the risks of moving to a works outfit over a team like McLaren (via Metro).
“It’s a risk. McLaren are in the business of Formula 1. Major carmakers come and go. There’s a risk if the Silver Arrows are not successful, it’s just a five-minute board decision,” said Stewart.
“Maybe it’s a risk worth taking, and I do understand Lewis’ psyche. There’s an element of him wanting to grow up, he’s no longer a little boy in karting. In some areas he felt that’s how he was treated at McLaren. It’s an emotional decision but it may not prove to be the right one.”
British driver Derek Warwick also had his reservations and was the most critical of Hamilton, making one of the strongest cases against joining Mercedes (via Crash.net).
“Mercedes are working on a new car but their performance this year was not just disappointing, it was very, very poor. Mercedes have undoubtedly the fastest driver in F1 and we all want Lewis to be in a winning car next year and challenging,” said Warwick.
“I desperately hope Mercedes will be competitive but either Lewis knows something we don’t or he’s lying in bed at night thinking, ‘What have I done!’”
Lewis Hamilton won six titles with Mercedes
Hamilton’s success would continue with a podium in Belgium in the following race, and then in 2014 Mercedes would unleash their advantage.
The W05 hybrid was unstoppable, with a power unit that blew the competition out of the water and a chassis that was totally dominant, taking wins at all but three races in 2014.
| Starts | Wins | Poles | Titles |
| 246 | 84 | 78 | 6 |
Hamilton’s journey got off to a bad start in Melbourne with a power unit problem forcing him to retire, but he would go on a four-race win streak between Malaysia and Spain.
He finished the year on 384 points to teammate Nico Rosberg’s 317 points, owing to the double points finish title showdown in Abu Dhabi.