Hamilton at 100 wins: In his adversaries’ words

Lewis Hamilton's canny drive to victory in the Russian Grand Prix made him the first Formula 1 driver in history to amass 100 wins.

Equipped with intermediate tyres in the rapidly deteriorating conditions, the Mercedes driver overcame long-time race leader Lando Norris as the Briton struggled on his slick tyres to reach the landmark total and put himself back into the lead of the 2021 title battle by just two points.

In finishing second to Hamilton at Silverstone, Charles Leclerc became the 18th driver to have finished on the second step of a podium topped by Hamilton - who has led a remarkable 39 Mercedes 1-2s since his arrival at the team in 2013.

From his bitter rival Nico Rosberg to one-time podium finisher Nelson Piquet Jr and Sochi runner-up Max Verstappen, the list counts a diverse range of drivers including 13 race winners.

Autosport spoke to three of them, including the very first driver to finish second to Hamilton in a grand prix, for their recollections of battling the Briton and their personal insights into F1's centurion.

Nick Heidfeld: 2007 Canadian GP, 2008 Australian GP, 2008 British GP

Heidfeld was frustrated to finish second at Silverstone in 2008, the race remembered as Hamilton's first standout wet weather drive

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The BMW driver followed Hamilton’s McLaren home on the occasions of his first and arguably most famous wins

I knew that to fight those McLarens in Montreal, I would have to do a good start. BMW was pretty strong on the starts, so if the chance was there, I had to put it in. But the McLaren’s pace was so much better that I don’t think there was a chance in the race to fight for the win.

What I personally remember a lot more about Silverstone was on the radio the team telling me several times that he ran wide – but he didn’t spin, he didn’t lose massive amounts of time compared to other drivers who binned it.

The team obviously informed me about that and I thought, ‘How can he go off so often and not just stay in the gravel?’ He didn’t make a mistake big enough to lose the race, so this is what I remember vividly being a bit disappointed.

"In the first year, he took it to [Fernando] Alonso, who is one of the best drivers we’ve ever seen in F1. To come into F1 in your first season and be on par with Alonso was just absolutely amazing" Nick Heidfeld

I think I did two double overtakes on that race - I’m fairly sure, because it doesn’t happen often! I don’t know if it was the first or the second time I did it with Kimi [Raikkonen] and [Heikki] Kovalainen, but I tried predict what was going to happen and then react in the millisecond. Especially in the spray, you don't know if people around you see you and on that move you see Kimi or Kovalainen probably being a bit surprised with me being next to him, so you have to be aware not to crash.

I was in the good situation to have the right tyres on-board, I always did enjoy to drive in the wet and also at BMW managed to have a very good traction control, and all that together put me in a position to get those moves done.

On Hamilton…

Of all the F1 drivers I met and spoke to, Lewis and Michael [Schumacher] stood out. This is not a casual conversation where you talk about the weather or whatever, but in both cases with Michael and with Lewis, it was the directness of the conversation and the atmosphere, I only ever had with them. It’s hard to describe, but it was something different.

With driving, the first super-impressive thing to me is that in the first year, he took it to [Fernando] Alonso, who is one of the best drivers we’ve ever seen in F1. To come into F1 in your first season and be on par with Alonso was just absolutely amazing.

In Monaco I was able to watch the cars at the circuit. Alonso was more precise and consistent, Hamilton did seem to have the best car control and went the closest to the walls. At that moment, I could see he was something special.

In the later years, I think he took away a little bit of the risk and left a bit more margin. But the car control was outstanding and is something I can again compare Michael. Back when I was in Formula 3 and Formula 3000 at Monaco, I could also watch the guys from close positions and there it was Michael who stood out compared to anybody else.

Nick Heidfeld was speaking to James Newbold

Felipe Massa: 2008 Chinese GP (Ferrari), 2014 Abu Dhabi GP (Williams)

Massa acknowledges that 2008 title rival Hamilton was "better than everybody" at China that year

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Aided by team orders to second in China at the height of his 2008 title fight with Hamilton, the Brazilian was at a different stage of his career in 2014 as Hamilton clinched his second title

Actually in China 2008, I was third. Kimi [Raikkonen] helped me, he was second, so we swapped positions. Which was nice, because I did the same with Kimi the year before in the last race, and he won
the championship. Lewis was better than everybody there, and I finished second.

Abu Dhabi 2014 was an amazing race because the year before Williams was almost last [ninth] in the [constructors’] championship and we finished third [in 2014]. That was such an important race. I had the chance to win, because I was catching Lewis. I stopped and I put the soft tyres on, and I was pushing massively, but it was not enough to catch him. Then unfortunately my tyres were losing performance in the laps that I was really close, but anyway, it was a great race.

On Hamilton…

When Lewis started in F1, it was clear, his level. He had Fernando Alonso next to him, and he didn’t win the championship because of his mistake, the race in China that he went straight [into the gravel] going to the pits. He lost the championship only because of his mistakes on that season, and you already saw the level he was.

The year after it was the same, he was fighting. For sure, everything that happened in that year with me, unlucky moments and situations like Singapore [fuel rig not detaching from the car while leading], situations like Budapest, when I had an engine failure. But his level was clear. For sure, nobody expected that he will beat Michael [Schumacher’s wins tally], something that was almost impossible to believe. What he’s doing with a car, is just different. It’s similar to Ayrton Senna, even Michael, that little different perfection.

Felipe Massa was speaking to Adam Cooper

Romain Grosjean: 2012 Canadian GP

Grosjean executed a perfect strategy to follow Hamilton home

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In the Lotus-Renault driver’s breakout season, he nailed a one-stop strategy to chase Hamilton across the line in Montreal

This was my second podium in F1 with Lotus. I started seventh, and the key to this podium was being able to make it on one stop. I remember I got overtaken at the start by the Force India of [Paul] di Resta and I lost some time behind him. If it wasn’t for him, I think we’d have taken the win.

I moved up to sixth, and I thought that was going to be the end result, which I was OK with. But then [Mark] Webber went off in the chicane and pitted again, and the rest of the guys in front started to struggle with their tyres. Fernando [Alonso] was trying to do the same [one-stop] strategy as me but his tyres dropped off badly so I passed him on the back straight. I was like, ‘Holy moly!’

"Lewis always plays smartly, that’s one of his meanest tricks. It’s knowing what to do and what not to do. That’s what makes him so successful" Romain Grosjean

Then Lewis came out from his second stop just in front of me. He went away to start with, then started coming back. It was quite a funny race. I genuinely thought I was going to win at one point, and the gap [2.5 seconds] was not a lot between us at the finish.

On Hamilton…

The speed of him is not in doubt, you need the speed, but the really impressive thing about Lewis is he always puts himself in the right situation when he’s racing. Max [Verstappen] is the opposite this year, even with the fastest car.

Lewis always plays smartly, that’s one of his meanest tricks. It’s knowing what to do and what not to do. That’s what makes him so successful. He drives very intelligently. He knows this year he doesn’t have the fastest car, so he’s changed his approach this season, and it’s like he’s helping Max to throw it away.

Romain Grosjean was speaking to Charles Bradley

Hamilton celebrates victory at the 2021 Russian GP

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images