Lewis Hamilton bagged yet another pole position this season. Dominating the grid at Spa Francorchamps, Hamilton inched closer to his 7th World Championship title.
While some might brand him as ‘lucky’ or even go to the extent of attributing his success to his car, there is no denying that Hamilton holds the perfect strategy to win races.
His performance at the Belgian Grand Prix proved how well he reads the game to gain advantages. Hamilton was in lead with Valtteri Bottas following him closely.
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Approaching the Eau Rouge, Hamilton slowed down as Bottas reduced the distance between them. However, Hamilton had a different plan in mind.
The Kemmel straight was ahead and Hamilton aimed to maintain his advantage. Slowing down on the Eau Rouge, cutting across the turns gave him the stability to unleash full thrust going down the Kemmel Straight.
Valtteri Bottas start onboard-
You can see Hamilton slowing down before Eau Rouge so he can maintain the advantage on the Kemmel straight. He done the same against Vettel in 2017.#F1 #BelgianGP #LH44 #VB77 pic.twitter.com/yPHGCCTSmQ— Ben (@BenF1__) August 30, 2020
This wasn’t the first time Hamilton pulled a stunt like this. Back in 2017, Hamilton was leading with Sebastian Vettel in pursuit. To shake the Ferrari man off his tail, Hamilton employed the same trick.
Slowing down at the Eau Rouge while pulling up rapidly into the Kemmel Straight.
Knowing the Brit’s racing prowess, Bottas should have anticipated this move. However, he lost it completely and handed Hamilton the lead.
Hamilton vs Vettel –
Hamilton slowing before Eau Rouge, surely Bottas had some kind of idea that Lewis was probably going to try this again? 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/vx4YHyCgLv— Ben (@BenF1__) August 30, 2020
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Lewis Hamilton aims for the record
Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most World Championships. His total tally of 7 looks fragile as Hamilton storms towards it. Hamilton has already surpassed his record of 155 podium finishes. He looks confident and tuned up to shatter Schumacher’s feat by the end of this year.
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Hamilton missed out on the podium in Austria. Occupying 5 1st positions and a 2nd in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Hamilton leads the Championship race with 10 Grands Prix to go.
The next weekend takes us to Italy as they are all set to organize three races this year, kicking things off with Monza. With the Italian side, Ferrari, struggling at the moment, it would be interesting to watch how Mercedes extend their lead in the Prancing Stallion’s backyard.