“If Silverstone is the cathedral of motorsport, Lewis is undoubtedly the cardinal”

After the tight end of last season, with all the drama that this meant, the fans hoped that Lewis Hamilton would come out this year in search of revenge from the first corner. The stands expected to see a merciless version of the English impregnated with a thirst for revenge against Max Verstappen, however, it was not so. For Mercedes, the change in regulations hit them more than anyone while Ferrari made a profit by going from being a battalion single-seater to a top one. Thus, while everyone concentrated between the fight between Verstappen and Leclerc, behind Hamilton suffered bouncing in the car, rubbing his back and numbing his ego when he saw how his teammate finished better than him in the first days.

Many thought, including myself, that it would have been more dignified to retire in 2021 after fighting for the championship than to do it wasted in a season like the current one. The routine of the first dates was always the same: Lewis Hamilton complaining and Toto Wolff (Mercedes team manager) apologizing and promising to improve the car for the next race. And so the initial tests went by repeating a sadistic loop that never seemed to break. Rebound, pain, frustration and apologies.

In the interim, the FIA ​​set its sights on Lewis when it announced a ban on wearing earrings, piercings, jewelery and other metal objects while driving an F1 car. In Miami, Hamilton raised his voice and showed his protest by making the demand go numb until this race. The truth is that this weekend the Briton has run without jewelry, but not without drama as a result of the unwise racist statements of the three-time champion of the category, and father of Verstappen’s partner, Nelson Piquet. The Briton has been chased around the paddock all weekend with microphones eager to hear his release, but he has kept prudently silent.

With all this previous Lewis arrived at his circuit, which he knows by heart, which is little less than the team’s backyard and where he has won eight times in the history of the category. And is that if Silverstone is the cathedral of motorsports, Lewis is undoubtedly the cardinal. And he has been there without jewelry, discussed, with a car that still gives him the guarantees of his rivals, starring in a racist soap opera, where Lewis has been reborn in front of his grandstand between the poor visibility of a rainy track. Today he starts fifth, after a classification where he was the protagonist, but with clear ambitions to get on the podium and, why not, reward his relentless patience with his first victory of the season.