Hamilton going for broke
Bob Dylan’s sage wisdom that “if you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing left to lose,” has not fallen on deaf ears. Indeed, the Formula One driver, Lewis Hamilton, is echoing those exact sentiments.
Originally in contention for this season’s Drivers’ Championship, after a series of setbacks and disappointing finishes, the McLaren-Mercedes racer drifted out of the top standings. Finishing fourth in Brazil last Sunday left him 24 points behind Ferrari’s
championship leader, Fernando Alonso.
With the Formula 1 title to be decided in Abu Dhabi this weekend, Hamilton must also vindictively hope that misfortune will befall Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who are 9 and 16 points ahead of him respectively. Given that Red Bull took the
Constructors’ Championship in Brazil, and that their current car is the envy of the F1 world, the McLaren driver is certainly up against the odds.
However, while his hopes for a championship victory are growing fainter, so is the immense pressure. Unencumbered by expectations and fears of having to defend his lead or pull ahead of the top dog, Hamilton has vowed to go “flat-out” at this weekend’s
F1 race.
"I've been in the hunt for the world championship at the final race of the season on two previous occasions, so I know all about the pressure you feel when the title is almost within touching distance," he said.
Hamilton’s most recent brush with the intense stress of being in the lead happened during the 2008 F1 season. Race after race, Hamilton traded proverbial punches with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. It was only in the final Brazilian Grand Prix that the McLaren
driver managed to beat his arch-rival by a mere one point to win the coveted Drivers’ Championship – becoming the youngest and first black driver to do so.
While a repeat performance of his nail-biting 2008 victory seems remote, Hamilton has not lost hope. “I’m [not] going into the race weekend feeling any less determined or motivated,” he said. “I know from personal experience that the championship isn't
over until you cross the line on the final lap - so I'll not only make sure I'm up there at the end, but pushing hard until the very end.”
Indeed, given the spat of blindsides, dethroned favourites, and underdog upsets that have been part of the Grand Prix since its very inception, the F1 world knows only one certainty: anything is possible.
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