07 July 2023 , 13:16
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It says a lot about Lewis Hamilton’s chances of winning the 2023 British Grand Prix that, in the build-up to the race, he has fielded more questions about Brad Pitt than pit stops.
The movie he is producing and its Hollywood royalty has taken up a large amount of Hamilton’s air-time ahead of Sunday’s race. There has been a lot of talk about the Formula One film and the usual stuff about his Mercedes deal.
There is a sequel to that second story every week, it seems, but every week, that sequel has pretty much the same ending. The contract will get done … even though they have been saying that since the first race of the season at Bahrain in early March.
The movie, the contract, Just Stop Oil, are all on Hamilton’s agenda this weekend, unlike, it seems, a ninth home Grand Prix victory. The reason for that is obvious - Mercedes have been way off Red Bull’s pace for a long time.
Hamilton’s last win was in Saudi Arabia in the penultimate race of a 2021 season when he was controversially denied a record-breaking eighth world title in the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. But this is Silverstone, this track lifts Lewis, this track inspires him like no other.
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He won on three wheels here in 2020, having suffered a puncture with half a lap to go. He won from sixth place on the grid in 2014 and produced a wet weather masterclass in 2008 that is still widely considered to be one of his best drives in F1.
But it is his first British Grand Prix that sticks in Hamilton’s mind. Even though he did not win it, he claimed an unlikely pole position and the reaction will stay with him forever.
“I think it was the first time when I’ve ever heard the sound of the crowd over the sound of the car. That was pretty special,” Hamilton said, who was asked about Nigel Mansell’s claim that the Silverstone crowd can be worth half a second to a home driver.
Hamilton smiled: “I wish it was half a second because we could really do with that right now. But the crowd does lift you and there’s a feeling of just floating on that positive energy the crowd brings.”
Brad Pitt is at Silverstone as part of preparations for his new F1 movie (Kym Illman/Getty Images)There is also a feeling that the Silverstone circuit that he has known inside out since he started karting as a kid is probably the circuit - with its high-speed corners - that suits him best. The chances of Silverstone providing Hamilton with yet another record - no-one has won a single race on nine occasions - are still slim.
But the moment feels right for a statement performance from one of the greatest of all time. Hamilton’s legacy is secure but there are doubters who wonder if projects such as the movie are a distraction.
There are doubters who think age will catch up with Hamilton. There are doubters who think £50million a year would be a lot for Mercedes to shell out on a driver turning 39 in January.
Hamilton will feel he has nothing to prove - and he will be right. But, in front of 150,000 fans, Hamilton will want to show his brilliance still burns brightly.
He will want to show there is only one box office star at Silverstone this weekend … and it is not Brad Pitt.