Brawn: "He definitely won races he shouldn't have won"

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14:54, 27 Dec 2020

In 2020, as in the last seven years, Mercedes again had the strongest car at its disposal. The fact that Hamilton experienced one of his most successful and dominant seasons was therefore not a surprise to anyone, but Ross Brawn believes that we should not underestimate his achievement.

"I think it has to be Lewis," said Brawn in the F1 Nation podcast when asked who he thinks is the best driver of 2020. "I say 'has to be' in the sense that he has set a new benchmark in terms of World Championships.

“I think it's very easy for people to assume that he had the best car. It's an easy exercise and it's far from the case. He definitely won races he shouldn't have won,” said Brawn.

Turkish Grand Prix a great example

He cites as the clearest example the Turkish Grand Prix, where Hamilton and Mercedes were definitely not among the fastest combinations all weekend, but by driving smartly and adapting ever better to the situation, they eventually won the race. Brawn was adament that the Brit is in an elite group of drivers. "He's in that group, there's no doubt about it."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	90
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	88
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	60
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	58
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	43
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	29
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	26
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	26
11	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	15
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	13
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	0
21	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Brawn: "He definitely won races he shouldn't have won"

Turkish Grand Prix a great example

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