Lewis Hamilton is ‘hunting and chasing’, which is what he has done all his life. And a few shards of light lead him towards his target going into Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.
He may not get where he wants in Shanghai, or anytime soon, or perhaps ever. But he, for one, is counting himself in the race to win an eighth world title, in the red of Ferrari.
Third fastest in qualifying behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, Hamilton beat his team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time since the US Grand Prix in October. Last season, Hamilton was outgunned by the Monegasque 19-5, his career flooded with doubts.
He may still be holed below the waterline, but there is something of a mopping-up operation on, an assertion to be reviewed in light of today’s action. A podium after 26 starts for the Scuderia – and 477 days in all – would be the perfect boost, demonstrating that the new regulations suit him better than the old ground-effect cars.
‘I’m grateful that we are getting a little bit closer,’ he said, careful to praise his team’s yeomen for their industry every time he speaks. ‘We’re hunting, we’re chasing, and I know everyone is geared up to just do everything they can to close that gap.’
A happy Lewis Hamilton gives the thumbs up after qualifying third in China
He added that only strategy or an unforeseen circumstance could realistically carry him to victory today. He is playing a longer game.
Ah, but he has to topple the increasingly impressive Russell, winner of Saturday’s sprint here, yet hindered by technical gremlins in qualifying for the race proper.
Even so, he kept his nerve to share the front row with Antonelli, the Italian who became the youngest pole man in Formula One history at 19 years, six months and 17 days. He eclipsed the record set by 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel, a benchmark that stood for 18 years.
Now it’s gone, but only because of Russell’s travails. ‘Something is not right with the car,’ he SOS’d during Q2. ‘I have major understeer, as if the front wing is broken.’ It was.
Then the gearbox problem that brought him to a standstill in Q3. ‘I can’t shift through the gears,’ he complained, having restarted his Mercedes. Asked if the car was all right by race engineer Marcus Dudley, he responded: ‘It isn’t.’
He went into the garage for remedial work and came out with just two minutes of qualifying left. He put in an excellent lap under pressure, with low battery and cold tyres, but ended up 0.222sec off Antonelli.
‘Definitely damage limitation,’ said Russell afterwards. ‘The team did a good job to get us in this position. It could have been a lot worse.’ True, for can easily win from where he is, as the sprint’s yo-yoing nature showed.
That was a ding-dong battle for five pulsating laps, the lead changing hands between Russell and Hamilton six times, before the younger of the Brits broke free.
One would pass the other, using his battery deployment at the critical moment and then the other would return the favour.
Artificial? Probably. Entertaining? Yes, but only as T20 cricket is compared to the five-day game. It was fun but for the wrong reasons.
This victory under the sun in Shanghai extended Russell’s championship lead to 11 points over Antonelli and Leclerc. The heartening news is that while the Silver Arrows are fast, they are not way out on their own. The Ferraris are keeping Russell honest. Leclerc finished second, Hamilton third, with McLaren’s defending world champion Lando Norris fourth and Antonelli fifth.
It was enough to keep Hamilton’s spirits up and his dream alive.
