2011 end of term report – Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton’s fifth season in the F1 World Championship proved to be very complicated and the Briton himself qualified it as his ‘worst ever’ campaign in the pinnacle of motorsport.
He still took three victories and the sole non-Red Bull pole position of the year.

Season review

After a tough winter and a last-minute change to the McLaren’s exhaust system, Lewis Hamilton qualified on the front row of the season’s opener. It was quite surprising given the slow pace of the McLarens in winter testing, but Hamilton confirmed and finished the race in the same position.

He once again qualified on the front row of the grid in Malaysia but had a difficult race. His pace was affected by the different tyre compounds and, even more so, by a collision with Fernando Alonso and the subsequent puncture. He crossed the finish line in 8th place and was given a 20s penalty after the race for weaving too much while defending. Alonso was penalized for the same offence.

The Pirelli tyres spiced up the race in China and the McLaren driver performed strongly. He had a rush of adrenaline before the start as his mechanics had to work frantically on his car until the last minute. He left the pits a few seconds before the pitlane was closed. Having saved a set of fresh tyres in qualifying, he was able to take advantage of it in the closing part of the race. Thanks to a better pace, he took the lead with five laps to go and took his first win of the season.

In Turkey, he couldn’t challenge the Red Bulls and finished 4th. Then, in Spain, he pushed Vettel hard in the second half of the race but couldn’t find a way past the German.

Monaco was a Grand Prix to forget for Hamilton who got himself in trouble.
Ninth at the start, he drove raggedly and was involved in several race incidents – most notably with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado. He was given a 20s penalty after the race but felt harshly treated and slammed the other drivers as well as the stewards in the media… he apologized for this outburst a few days later.

At Montreal, Hamilton was once again involved in several race incidents. He collided with Mark Webber at the start and lost several positions. A few laps later, he collided with his McLaren teammate Jenson Button and touched the wall. His rear left suspension was broken and he was forced to retire.

In the following races, the Briton tried to keep a low profile. He was 4th at Valencia and Silverstone. He bounced back in style with a win in Germany. He was in with a chance to win the Hungarian Grand Prix when he span out of the lead and forced Paul di Resta to take some avoiding action as he rejoined the track. He was penalized with a drive through and crossed the line in 4th place.

At Spa-Francorchamps, he collided with Maldonado in qualifying and had a collision with Kobayashi during the race. He crashed and retired. In Italy, he took a good 4th place after a fierce battle with Michael Schumacher. At Singapore, he had another collision with Felipe Massa. He broke his front wing on the Brazilian’s Ferrari and received a drive-through penalty.

Massa and Hamilton were involved in another accident in Japan. He had a pretty good weekend in Korea – taking pole position and finishing 2nd – but didn’t seem to enjoy himself. He didn’t celebrate his pole, despite finally putting an end to Red Bull’s domination in qualifying. He later revealed he was affected by personal problems.

In India, he was given a three grid place penalty for ignoring the yellow flags in practice. He started in fifth place and was soon racing his best enemy Felipe Massa. Quite inevitably, they ended up colliding… but this time it was the Ferrari driver who was deemed responsible for the accident.

In Abu Dhabi, Hamilton benefitted from the early retirement of Sebastian Vettel and dominated the race. Two weeks later, a gearbox problem put a premature end to his season.

Conclusion

For the first time of his F1 career, Lewis Hamilton finished behind his teammate in the standings. Despite 227 points scored and three wins, he was only 5th in the final classification. His season might well be remembered for his numerous race incidents and meetings with the stewards.

On the positive side, his great wins in China and Germany reminded everyone of the Lewis Hamilton who was considered as one of the greatest drivers of the field. He also had the satisfaction of depriving Red Bull of a 100% pole record in 2011.

Highs
—  Three wins
—  Pole position in Korea
—  A few great races

Lows
—  Too many collisions and meetings with the stewards
—  Affected by his personal problems
—  Finished 43 points behind Button

Nextgen-Auto.com marks :
— Oliver Ferret : 12/20
— D.Thys : 15/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 14/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 13/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 14/20
—  Total : 68/100