Comment- Hamilton has come of age and could dominate for years

It did not go unnoticed during the wild celebrations that Lewis Hamilton told interviewer Martin Brundle on the podium: “This feels like the first time", after he won is second world championship.

Not many people at McLaren, who he won his first title with in 2008, would have enjoyed hearing that.

The champion has found happiness and peace at last. The days of a sulky Hamilton feeling underappreciated and unloved in McLaren colours is gone. At Mercedes he has found his home: he’s the centrepiece of the team and in a dominant car. The Hamilton era may have finally arrived.

Back in 2012 he made a bold decision to leave a team who had nurtured him and helped turn him into the fastest driver in modern Formula 1.

They held his hand from teenage talent to world champion in 2008, but the relationship was breaking down. The boy was turning into a man, while still living at home with his parents. He needed independence, a place of his own.

Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes team members: Andy Cowell, Paddy Lowe & Toto Wolff

Step in Mercedes, who were always building for 2014, who promised him they would make him world champion. At the time they were scrapping for small points, while McLaren were fighting for wins.

The decision looked risky at best and the Englishman was written off. He’s having the last laugh now.

Mercedes gave him a platform to become his own man. He now looks around at a garage of people who know him as a world champion driver, not colleagues who remember him a spotty teenage junior.

This, combined with a more settled personal life; with relationships re-established with both his long-term girlfriend, Nicole Scherzinger and his father Anthony, has made Hamilton the relaxed and controlled figure we see today.

This new and in control demeanour hasn’t just seeped, but more flowed into his racing. His patience, calm thought process and controlled emotions have been telling. In the high pressure situations it has been Hamilton, rather than his rival Nico Rosberg, who has kept his head.

All great sportsmen perform their very best under the most intense pressure. Usain Bolt in the Olympics, Roger Federer at Wimbledon, Jonny Wilkinson in the Rugby World Cup Final. It’s what sets the greats apart from the very good.

Although Rosberg’s engine problem was a sad way to end his brilliant year, it made little difference to the outcome of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton had secured his second world championship at the start of the race. He called upon all his skill at the most dangerous moment.

A bad start could see him fall down the order and force him to risk a first corner collision with a bold youngster, while Rosberg sped on ahead. If he remained on track, but down the order, then nerves could set in and pressure could build.

Instead, he launched the car off the line and raced into the lead. A mixture of adrenalin and skill left Rosberg spinning his wheels behind. That was the moment it was over.

With more Mercedes dominance to come in 2015, and possibly beyond if Red Bull fail to get their way of changing the rules to suit them, then Hamilton is in a prime position to start climbing the record books.

He already has the record of most wins by a British driver, and he will be the heavy favourite to equal Sir Jackie Stewart’s, and his hero Ayrton Senna’s, three world titles next year.

Lewis Hamilton with Union Jack

Rosberg will be a strong threat once again, and can take pride in how he fought. He is a world class talent but a novice at title challenges. Next year he will be even better.

But then so will Hamilton. A confident, assured, intelligent and blindingly quick racing driver who has finally found his happy place.

After the likes of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, F1 may just have entered a new dominant era.

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