How Hamilton returned to winning ways
Lewis Hamilton's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix win looked pretty straightforward, but, as Adam Cooper found out when he dug below the surface, there were a number of key factors behind his success
When Sebastian Vettel went spinning off at the beginning of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, you'd have been forgiven for suspecting that it's probably only his most-devoted fans who threw their hands up in horror. For most people the reaction was probably a variation on 'yes!' amid the realisation that the world champion's departure opened things up for someone else to win.
The German was certainly due some bad luck. Of course both he and Red Bull have done a magnificent job this year, especially in qualifying, but the stats have been skewed by the fact that nothing has gone wrong for him. You could argue that Jenson Button's two retirements were team problems and therefore part of the game, but consider Fernando Alonso, who has also had a season almost free of blemishes - except for Montreal, where Button tapped him into retirement.
Share Or Save This Story
Krack: Aston Martin F1 team no longer in “no-man’s land”
Gasly rues costly floor damage from Ocon contact in F1 Japanese GP
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Russell: Dirty air is causing F1 helmet turbulence problems
Vasseur: No guarantee that Ferrari F1 tyre issues are resolved
How an F1 underachiever became a Japanese political player
Are rookie sprint races a good idea? Our F1 writers have their say
How the WRC chose a winner from two inseparable crews after Acropolis drama
Bagnaia leads Ducati 1-2-3 in Misano test, Acosta fourth on KTM
The bizarre way Verstappen's protege Vermeulen lost a maiden DTM win
Ayrton Senna's magic moments, chosen by his race engineers
Why the turbine Lotus experiment failed to realise its potential in F1
How the chief architect of McLaren's improvement plans to continue its rise
Jon Noble: Why Ferrari could be a dark horse for the title – but we can't be sure until October
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
