In his very first season, Hamilton lost out to Kimi Raikkonen in Brazil. The Ferrari driver won the race to snatch the crown by a single point, with his McLaren rival only seventh.
A year later, he achieved redemption by overtaking Timo Glock at the last meaningful corner at Interlagos. It was one of the most extraordinary finishes ever, with Felipe Massa convinced he’d won the title after crossing the line first in front of his home fans.
Hamilton was technically a player in the 2010 finale, but the 24-point gap to Fernando Alonso meant he was never a realistic candidate. It was effectively a three-way scrap between Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Vettel coming from 15 points back in third to win out.
Five of Hamilton’s six titles at Mercedes were sealed before the final race, such was the dominance the Silver Arrows enjoyed. Max Verstappen managed to break their stranglehold in 2021.
Verstappen and Hamilton were remarkably level on points heading into the final race. And, in a cruel inversion of 2008, the Red Bull driver passed him on the final lap to prevail – a moment that has become a taboo given the incorrect application of the safety-car restart rules beforehand.
During an interview with Sky Sports F1, Hamilton reflected on the 2014 season – his first championship year with Mercedes. After the penultimate round in Brazil, he was 17 points ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg.
Ordinarily, that would mean that Hamilton could afford to finish sixth, even with his teammate winning, and he’d still be champion. They’d be level on points in that scenario, but he owned the tiebreaker of most victories.
However, F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone had decided to inject jeopardy into the season by implementing double points for the last race in Abu Dhabi. With 50 points on offer for the win, Hamilton now needed to be second to guarantee the title.
Dramatically, it was Rosberg who took pole position, only for Hamilton to sail past him at the start. The German would limp home outside the points amid a power unit issue, and his teammate’s victory meant he ultimately finished 67 points clear.
But, looking back a decade later, Hamilton still seethed over the double-points rule, which was scrapped after just one year. He felt it was unfair that one race had extra weight in deciding the outcome.
“Firstly, the rule change was stupid,” he said. “It really left a bad taste in my mouth. Going into the weekend, I was thinking ‘I’ve done a great job during the year, there have been some challenges, but this weekend, just one race can flip the whole championship’.”
While Hamilton was dominant in 2015, Rosberg would finally get the better of him the following year. Ironically, he would have lost the title that season if double points had been in place.
Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two that day but still finished five points adrift. Had the differential been 14 points rather than seven, he would have edged ahead by two.
Team principal Toto Wolff revealed Hamilton was ‘upset’ with Mercedes’ radio messages during that race. They sternly told him to speed up as he tried to back Rosberg into the pack behind, his only hope of winning the championship.
Rosberg deliberately amplified Hamilton’s ‘self-doubt’ in a successful psychological ploy. That, he says, forced his rival into some key mistakes, and paved the way for him to retire as a champion.
