2010 could be Hamilton's year

Amidst the excitement of Michael Schumacher's sensational return to Formula One, and talk of his renewed rivalry with Ferrari-bound Fernando Alonso, one man's 2010 title prospects have been largely forgotten: those of Lewis Hamilton. Yet there are strong signs that this could once again be Hamilton's season: a chance to reclaim the crown which he ceded to Jenson Button, and to prove himself against one of the all-time motorsporting greats.

He is already a different driver to the one who took the championship in 2008. Although that success was well-deserved, it should be remembered that he came within a whisker of missing out. Few will forget the drama of the last lap at Interlagos, where he overtook Timo Glock two corners from the end to secure the four points needed to claim the title. Never has there been such a close finish to a championship battle.

True, he mastered conditions at Monte Carlo and Silverstone, drove masterfully through the field to claim victory at Hockenheim, and dominated in both Melbourne and Shanghai. But still at times he showed his inexperience - as at Montreal, when he failed to see the red light at the end of the pitlane, and crashed into the rear of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari. It is also fair to say that he had some lucky breaks: had Massa not pulled away from his pitstop in Singapore with the fuel rig still attached, for example, Hamilton might well have lost the title race. Though he eventually emerged the victor, he was still even then very much a raw talent, and there was clearly room for improvement.


Growing in maturity 

2009 gave Hamilton a chance to prove himself in very different circumstances. For the first time in his career, he did not begin the season with one of the best cars. The MP4-24 was severely lacking in downforce, and the first half of the season proved a struggle. It was a lesson in patience and psychological strength, as Hamilton came to grips not only with a car that could not perform as he wanted it to, but also the fact that he would be unable to defend his title. For the first time also he was not the focus of the British media's attention: a dramatic change in fortunes from his championship-winning year, and in the space of just a few months.

Nonetheless, his efforts were rewarded as the season went on, and he was able to finish with 49 points, including two victories and four pole positions. Partly this can be put down to the package of aerodynamic updates that arrived in the second half of the year, but it should be noted that team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was able to muster only 22 points, with a highest finish of fourth place - thus underlining Hamilton's achievements.

Mistakes were still made, on and off the circuit. The 'liegate' scandal that erupted following the Australian Grand Prix did him no credit, demonstrating a lack of judgement. And on the track as well, his temperament occasionally left something to be desired - for example at Monza, where his attempts at last-lap heroics ended in the barriers.

But on the whole Hamilton showed that he has matured as a driver, impressing many doubters. His third place at Interlagos - from seventeenth on the grid - was the result of a champion's drive, even more impressive than Button's own run from fourteenth to fifth that sealed the 2009 title. And he might have added two more victories to his season's tally, had not poor radio communication from the team ruined his second pit stop in Valencia, or brake issues forced his early retirement in Abu Dhabi, where he had comfortably led the first stint of the race. 

Reasons to be confident 

It is this maturity which will stand him in good stead for 2010, when we can expect to see a more determined, less error-prone Hamilton take to the track. It will be interesting to see how he compares to Button through winter testing. For McLaren, having two world champions in their cars is a dream, and both drivers will undoubtedly push each other hard, though many - including The Guardian's Maurice Hamilton - expect Lewis to have the upper hand. He has made the McLaren team his own, it is argued, and it will take some time for Button to settle in.

In any case it is Button who, despite being the reigning champion, will have to prove himself when the new season gets underway. Though he won six out of the first seven Grands Prix in 2009, he seemed to fade thereafter, reaching the podium just twice in the remaining ten races and leaving many observers to question whether the car or the driver was mainly responsible for his early success. Indeed his late-season struggles may have left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he will start 2010 under pressure, knowing that he has to get up to speed quickly if he is to regain his credibility and prove that he is a worthy champion.

Hamilton, by contrast, will be full of confidence after outscoring all but Sebastien Vettel in the second half of last season. Mentally he will be much stronger; the time spent largely out of the limelight will have helped him gain some perspective and allowed him to concentrate more on the technical aspects of his driving.

"I’ve grown as a man, and as a driver," he told the Official F1 Website. "I’ve faced bigger hurdles this year than in my previous two seasons and I think I now know how to cope with things better than I did - even from one year ago." 

Potential obstacles

Assuming, then, that it is Hamilton who emerges as the team leader in 2010, the real question is whether he will have the machinery to support a title bid. The breakdown of the McLaren-Mercedes partnership should not be a hindrance in the short term, since most of the investment into and development of the 2010 car, the MP4-25, will have already taken place. Only later in the season, as the development race hots up, might the team start to miss the carmaker's resources and technical input.

What might concern Hamilton more is whether, in chasing improvements on their 2009 car, the team have had to divert their energies away from the design of their 2010 challenger, and so could start the season at a disadvantage. Time will tell whether that is the case or not. Nevertheless, when the grid forms up in Bahrain in March, the smart money is on McLaren being close to the front, as they have been for much of the last decade.

Naturally Hamilton will have to contend with his old adversary Alonso, not to mention Schumacher, who will be returning to the sport with the reigning constructors' champions. Both will be hard men to beat. Yet Hamilton had the measure of the Spaniard when they were team-mates in 2007 (both finished on 109 points that year, with Hamilton classified higher on account of having had more second-place finishes). And, in spite of the tremendous fanfare that has greeted his comeback, it remains to be seen whether Schumacher really can be as fast now as he was when he left the sport in 2006.

There are a lot of questions still to be answered before it can be said that a title bid is a genuine prospect. How the MP4-25 performs in testing - once the winter ban is lifted on 1 February - will of course be crucial. So far, however, the signs are mainly positive for Hamilton.

Photo reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license from an image uploaded to Flickr.com by sam badeo.