Mercedes F1 technical director James Allison has revealed his favorite memory from Lewis Hamilton's time with the team.
Hamilton left Mercedes F1 at the end of last season to join F1 rivals Ferrari after 12 very successful years with the Silver Arrows.
He won six of his seven world titles with Mercedes and took 84 of his 105 Grand Prix victories with the German manufacturer.
Interestingly, Allison's favorite memory of Hamilton isn't one of his victories.
Instead, it was an act of sportsmanship at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix that Allison chose as the highlight of his time working with Hamilton.
In the midst of a title fight with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of his Ferrari, Hamilton allowed his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, to pass him at the end of the race.
Mercedes had earlier swapped cars via a team order to allow Hamilton to attack Ferrari in the lead, but when he was unable to overtake, the Briton slowed on the exit of the final corner to let Bottas come back.
Hamilton gave up a podium place and three more points while behind Vettel in the championship. Hamilton still beat Vettel for the drivers' title.
And Allison thinks that moment showed Hamilton's true character.
“It is a difficult choice to select a moment with Lewis, because it is a rich gallery of experiences during these seasons.
“Although I'm a newcomer to the team compared to others, I've been there for better and for worse, for four drivers' championships with him and five constructors' championships, so there's plenty to choose from !”
“I tend to go back to Hungary in 2017, where Lewis was allowed to pass Valtteri to attack the Ferraris in front.
“He didn't make the progress we hoped for, but then honored his promise to let Valtteri back if he failed to deliver.”
“The way it played out was extremely tense, extremely difficult to execute cleanly, because there was Verstappen around making it really difficult.”
“Lewis did it and he did it with real class. I think it showed the essential fairness in Lewis' character, right alongside his surliness that we all admire so much.”
