Hamilton's ironing out past 'embarrassing' result-derailing gremlins

Lewis Hamilton is known for his unapologetic success in F1, having garnered every accolade he possibly could in the sport. However, even a driver of his stature and vast experience has weaknesses. Weaknesses that still hinder him to this day.

At the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix it was painfully clear. During the formation lap, all drivers sensed that the conditions had shifted.

Discarding the green-band intermediate tyres, they all made the call to stop in the pits for slick tyres. All but one: Hamilton. This treated F1 crowds to one of, if not the most, bizarre starts to a Grand Prix in the history of the sport, as only Hamilton and the Safety Car were the only cars on track as the lights went out.

Hamilton works on finessing the strategic calls

Speaking after the race in Spa this year, where Hamilton and Ferrari nailed the crossover point from inters to slicks, Hamilton revealed the work he's been putting in in that regard.

"Yeah, I think it was good [the call to switch from wet weather tyres to dry tyres]," he said to GPblog and others.

"I mean, I'm really working to try to finesse that, to get it right each time.

"I think that's been an area for me that's not always been the strongest."

The race prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix was also an event affected by the weather. There, Hamilton had the chance to nab his first full fledged Grand Prix podium in red. Nevertheless a fumbled crossover call saw his chances go up in smoke.

"In the last race (Silverstone, ed.), I thought it was maybe one lap too early.

"And I think today it was like spot on. I probably could have just about done it one lap earlier, but it was like...", the Brit concluded.

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