Has Lewis Hamilton peaked in his Formula 1 career?

A century of Formula 1 wins, seven-time World Champion and potentially an eighth on its way. You can’t take away the success that Lewis Hamilton has had since entering the sport in 2007, but now that young superstars are emerging and we enter a new era of F1 next season, has Hamilton hit his peak?

Final chance to become World Champion?

We all know Lewis Hamilton for the seven World Championship titles he’s won and the immense impact he’s had on Formula 1. However, is this season his last chance to add to his seven championship titles?

Max Verstappen has already thrown a spanner in the works for Hamilton and Mercedes and sits only two points behind the Brit in the Drivers’ Standings. However, with six confirmed races and one more still to be announced, the Drivers’ Championship battle is definitely nowhere near finishing. A win for Hamilton in Russia secured enough points to regain his lead, however, he would have hoped for a larger lead after seeing that Verstappen was starting from the back of the grid. The Dutchman battled through the field and, with a bit of luck from the rain, finished on the podium, behind only Hamilton, maximising the number of points available to him.

He will have to finish the season in incredible form and outperform Verstappen in all the remaining races, in order to secure personal and team glory in the 2021 Formula 1 Championships. Personally, I think this is of course doable but will be extremely tough.

I’m kind of stating the obvious here but it will be tough to finish on top, but of course if very likely for Hamilton. However, could this be the final chance for him to win because of George Russell coming in next season and new regulations coming into play? In my opinion, yes it could be. We saw how strong Russell was in Sakhir and he’s only grown as a driver since then, scoring points for Williams whenever he likes now it seems. Hamilton will need to put up a major fight next season against the young Brit to hold him back from potentially becoming a World Champion in his first season with the team.

This, to me, could be Hamilton’s best chance at succeeding and claiming world glory, but of course, we don’t know what will happen next season and what factors may come into play.

Could George Russell steal Hamilton’s thunder?

Russell has been one of the main talking points this season. However, this season at the Belgium Grand Prix, the Williams claimed his first podium of his career, finishing behind only Verstappen, and turned out to be what solidified his seat for Mercedes next season. Now it’s confirmed that Russell will pair Hamilton next season, it’ll be interesting to see what dynamic will be formed between the duo.

The 23-year-old claimed his first points for Williams, in his career, at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the start of August and his first podium in Spa the following week. With this and his single performance in a Mercedes car in Sakhir in mind, will Russell steal his teammate's thunder if he arrives at the German team?

I personally think Russell will be on-par or even better than Hamilton next season if they are teammates. It’s the only logical move for Russell and Mercedes to put him in the seat next year and his talent will shine whilst wearing black overalls. The only real comparison we have to show is Sakhir 2020, however.

How big of a change will the 2022 car make?

At the moment we don’t know, it’s really a guessing game. We could see Haas rise to the top of the grid and Mercedes fall behind Williams, it’s something we can’t predict at the moment. However, we know the skillset that Hamilton possesses and the seven-time World Champion will, undoubtedly, be able to find exactly what he wants out of the car.

It may take some time to get used to but Hamilton knows how to find the most out of the car and will easily be able to do this next season when the new regulations come into play.

Let us know what you think, has Lewis Hamilton hit his peak? Is this season his last chance at claiming his eighth World Championship?