Seven magical Lewis Hamilton F1 moments

No one has scored more pole positions and won more races in Formula1 than Lewis Hamilton. The Brit has been active in the series formany years, showing season after season that he knows the tricks ofthe trade inside out. On the Briton's 39th birthday, we go back intime to look at his best moments. 1. A resounding debut Hamiltonmade his F1 debut in 2007, stepping up to a seat at McLaren after atitle-winning GP2 campaign. He was paired with two-time (and thereigning) World Champion Fernando Alonso, who joined from Renault.During the opening race of the season, he immediately showed hisexperienced teammate that he was cut from the right racing cloth.Hamilton started in fourth place but overtook the Spaniard on theoutside at the first corner. From there, he stayed cool and scoreda podium in his maiden F1 race. 2. The first win of many In whatwas only his sixth F1 race, Hamilton secured in pole position afteran extremely strong lap. It was his first pole of his career and atthe start of the race, he held off teammate Alonso and continued onhis way to victory. Even the four safety car periods Hamilton hadto deal with did not spoil things as he won convincingly and hisvictory became the first of many. 3. Sublime in Singapore 'Theperfect pole lap does not exist' is a statement made by several F1drivers in recent years. But if one qualifying lap came close toperfection, it was Hamilton's final Q3 lap at the Marina Bay StreetCircuit in 2018. The Briton could not keep up with the Ferraris ofrivals Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in Q1 and Q2, butmanaged to make the most of the third part of qualifying. Hamiltonutilized every millimetre of the street circuit and qualifiedthree-tenths clear of title rival Vettel. "It felt like the mostcomplete lap I ever drove," the Mercedes driver told F1TV. 4. Magicin Monaco In the spring of 2019, the F1 circus touched down inMonaco. Hamilton claimed pole position in the principality andstarted the race relatively carefree. That changed when Ferraridriver Charles Leclerc eliminated himself and the Safety Carentered the track. Hamilton's Mercedes team made a strategic errorthat forced the Briton to hold on for dozens of laps on the Mediumtyre, while feeling the pressure of of Max Verstappen - who wasdriving on new rubber - on his neck. "I don't know what you werethinking when you gave me these tyres man," he said over the radio.Hamilton did not succumb to the pressure, however, and beat off anyovertaking attempts by the Dutchman. On worn Pirellis, theeventually crossed the finish line in first. 5. Dominant in GermanyOn July 24, 2011, Hamilton and his fellow competitors raced at theNurburgring in Germany. The Briton started qualifying second andwas more than a second faster than teammate Jenson Button over onelap. Hamilton grabbed the lead at the first corner, but throughoutthe race had to defend tooth and nail against Red Bull's MarkWebber. He did so convincingly, and in an underperforming McLarenhe won - right in the land of championship leader Sebastian Vettel.6. Austria 2020: bossing everyone The qualifying session for theStyrian Grand Prix was plagued by heavy rain. At a totallywashed-out Red Bull Ring, Hamilton and Verstappen battled eachother for the first starting position. For a long time they wereevenly matched, but on the last lap Hamilton showed that hecouldn't be matched. In bizarre conditions he clocked a time of1.19.273; more than a second faster than Verstappen. 7. Home debutDuring his home race in 2008, Hamilton qualified in fourth. OnSunday, however, the man from Stevenage quickly managed to turn thetide. At the start on a wet tack, he drove from spot four to secondand on just the fifth race lap he overtook teammate HeikkiKovalainen for the lead. From there, Hamilton showed insane speedas he was averaging five seconds per lap faster than somecompetitors and lapped everyone up to fourth. The British driverfinished 68 seconds clear of Nick Heidfeld, who crossed the finishline in second.