Hamilton at Mercedes: The Turning Point of the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton’s first season with Mercedes saw him finish in fourth place in the drivers’ standings, ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg (189 points to 171), who had been with the Brackley team since 2010. The Brit even clinched victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

If the decision of the 2008 world champion to join a team struggling for results seemed, to some observers, surprising and risky, especially considering he was in a team he knew well and regularly achieved victory with, the unfolding of the season did not seem to prove Lewis Hamilton wrong. His former team, McLaren, failed to secure even a single podium, having achieved at least one every season between 1981 and 2012, while Mercedes, with three victories and a total of nine podiums, secured second place in the constructors’ championship.

Hamilton thus drew a very positive assessment of this first season with his new team for ESPN : « It’s good, it’s great. I think 98% of people [doubted], but it seemed to be the right choice for me, and it was. I’m really, really happy. It’s more than the results; it was an entire experience being in harmony with a new car and a new team. It’s been really enjoyable. »

On the occasion of the Autosport Awards ceremony, Niki Lauda, non-executive director of Mercedes, interviewed by Reuters, reflected on the moment he managed to convince Lewis Hamilton to join the star-branded company. It was during the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix that everything was decided: I had to see him in his room between 2 and 4 am. I remember the discussion because he was on pole position with McLaren, ultimately winning everything, and I asked him, “Could you consider coming to Mercedes?” He said, “Why should I leave? This car wins, all I want to do is win, and your car is not victorious.” I thought to myself, “Damn, he’s right.”

The uncertainty then hovered around the future of the Brit at McLaren – for both sporting and relational reasons -, but Hamilton was showing a significant resurgence in form, having won two of the previous three races, in Hungary and Italy, retiring in the opening crash in Belgium. The race on the Marina Bay street circuit was shaping up to be a solo run for the Stevenage native. A situation that wasn’t really in Niki Lauda’s favor in his effort to recruit the driver: I was sitting in front of the television, saying to myself: Please, crash, retire. I was sitting there waiting for it and, bingo, the gearbox failed. I went to see him right after that. Less than a week later, Mercedes announced the signing of Lewis Hamilton.