‘Lewis is haunted by the need to succeed’

STATISTICS don’t lie. At least they don’t in Formula 1. Take away the hot air and bluster and you’re left with raw stats. They are the mechanism by which success is measured in this sport, and they don’t come much more impressive than those generated by Mercedes-AMG. The team has won seven consecutive driver and constructor titles since 2014. It’s been the greatest unbroken run of domination in the sport’s history; even greater than the strangleholds of McLaren, Williams and Ferrari in the ’80s, ’90s and ’00s.

For those who haven’t been following closely, the titles have been no fluke. Merc has taken 105 victories since the start of ’14, which is more than 50 percent of the races. Ferrari has been Mercedes’ closest challenger in the hybrid era, and it has won just 20 races.

Lewis Hamilton has knocked up six titles in that time. His speed and consistency have toppled all before him,