But
Hamilton has a resilience that allows him to get over hitches and bang
in a great performance next time. His basic belief in his own driving is
strong, and possibly never more so than this year, where he is close to
the form of his life.
Starting
from pole, Hamilton was in command from the dart into the first corner,
a right-hander 280 yards from his grid place. He immediately shut out
his team-mate Rosberg. The two danced closely through those early bends
but avoided calamity.
Rosberg
ran wide just before his pit stop, as he was pushing like mad while
Hamilton was having his change of tyres, and never looked as if he could
pass the world champion despite getting close to him around the 52nd
lap.
There
were a few cautionary words to each Mercedes driver from the pit wall.
Rosberg was primarily told to nurse his brakes; Hamilton was repeatedly
warned to conserve fuel. But there was no repeat of Mercedes’s cooling
problems that caused Hamilton to retire last year.
Asked
if the victory made up for Monaco, Hamilton said: ‘Not sure. I love
this track and love this city. This was really a fantastic weekend. Nico
was quick but I had some more speed in my pocket if needed.’
Rosberg was gracious in defeat, blaming qualifying second for losing. ‘Lewis didn’t make any mistakes,’ he said.
Hamilton’s
victory takes him 17 points clear of Rosberg. This was his 37th career
win, a remarkable tally that puts him fifth in the all-time list, behind
Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel. His
first ever triumph was here in 2007 in only the sixth race of his
career.
Fame was beginning to chase him back then and it has chased him ever since.
Just
as did here for Al Pacino – quite small, crazy hair – who felt buffeted
by photographers on the grid. He quickly removed himself from the fray,
having arrived in a giant cavalcade of black cars just five minutes
earlier.
Michael Douglas was the guest of McLaren’s part-owner Mansour Ojjeh. It was about all the glitz they could muster this weekend.
It
is a remarkably poor stretch of results for McLaren. Yes, their
partnership with Honda is having severe teething problems but, given
that their last win came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2012, the
problems are deeper.
Button
is usually a picture of sangfroid, but even he said: 'I’m going to have
a nice meal and reflect. Today was quite painful.’
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