Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton discussed ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix the current dominance being enjoyed by Red Bull, something which he experienced with Mercedes not too long ago.
Up until 2021, Mercedes were by far the most superior team on the grid, something which saw Hamilton receive little challenge for the world title.
As a result, he claimed six championships in the space of seven seasons, from 2014-2020.
2016 was the only season in that period where he didn’t win the Drivers’ Championship, after being narrowly defeated by former team-mate Nico Rosberg.
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The majority of Hamilton’s titles have been won in dominant fashion, with the exceptions arguably being 2008 and 2017.
In 2008, he won a titanic fight against Felipe Massa, whilst in 2017 he claimed the crown over Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton, of course, recently lost out in 2021 to Max Verstappen, after former F1 race director Michael Masi made a ‘human error’ and failed to follow the rule book.
Since 2021, Mercedes’ and Hamilton’s dominance has very much ended, with Red Bull and Verstappen having reigned supreme.
Verstappen cruised to a second consecutive title last season and is on-track to claim a third this year, given that he leads the championship by 81 points after just 10 races.
Nobody is able to compete with Verstappen, who claimed his fifth consecutive pole position of the season on Saturday at the Silverstone International Circuit.
If the Dutchman wins on Sunday, then he’ll become just the fourth driver in F1 history to win six races in a row.
Verstappen is certainly in a league of his own, a feeling Hamilton can definitely relate to based on his previous experiences with Mercedes.
Interestingly, Hamilton isn’t a fan of a single team or driver being superior over everybody else, with the 38-year-old admitting that cruising to a title didn’t feel the “most fulfilling”.
Whilst he recognises that Red Bull and Verstappen are doing a sensational job, Hamilton explained how his favourite titles that he’s won are the ones where he’s been involved in a title fight, something his 2021 rival hasn’t had this season nor in 2022.
“Ultimately that’s the issue for a long time within our sport, there was always large chunks of dominance,” Hamilton told Jennie Gow on the BBC Radio 5 Live Chequered Flag podcast.
“I had it and I was really, really fortunate to have it here with this team. Michael [Schumacher] had it, Seb [Vettel] had it, now it’s Max’s period.
“There’s no telling how long that will be, whether we get the car on track and fight them back next year or whether Ferrari can, or whether it will be us next, or Ferrari next, or Red Bull next.
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“When we were dominant, the best years were when we were fighting when we had the close battle with Red Bull, when we had the close battle with Ferrari.
“On some of the other times when the gap was a little bit bigger, that wasn’t really the most fulfilling period of time. But there’s nothing we could do about, we just did a better job and that’s where Max is.
“Ultimately, him and his team have just done a better job than everyone else and you cannot take it away from them.”