Lewis: "I know it won't last forever"

His swimming trunks are probably still dripping on the balcony, fresh from a dip in the Caribbean Sea. Two weeks ago, he was driving his Cobra – an original Shelby 427 – in Malibu with Nicole. They went 
to church, where Stevie Wonder sang gospel. Then it was over to 
Spain for another scorcher, and his fourth win in a row. And yes, 
despite the shenanigans at Monaco, he’s still the smartest bet for 
this year’s title. Has the sun ever shone brighter on Lewis?

“Apart from winning the world championship and then being in Barbados,” he says over the phone, “life couldn’t get much better.” 
He seems to mean it. Maybe it’s because he’s having a few days off, or maybe it’s because he’s on a roll right now… but you sense that somehow, behind the giant shades, this is a different, more grown-up Lewis. Like 
all of us, he’s had bad days – retiring on lap three in Melbourne after qualifying on pole, or Rosberg’s qualifying ‘mistake’ at Monaco were cases in point. But, even so, he claims to be in a good place right now, and is perhaps even a touch surprised about the whole thing.

“When I made the decision to come to Mercedes, I was 100 per 
cent certain it was what I wanted to do,” he says. “But I never thought it would progress so fast.” He and teammate Nico Rosberg have swept aside the dominant Red Bulls and nailed the switch from last season’s V8s to this year’s V6s with their sci-fi electrics. Before Daniel Ricciardo won in Canada, there was a very real 
chance that the two Merc drivers could make F1 history by winning 
every race of the season. Whether this is good for the sport depends 
on whom you support, but do you really expect them to slow down and give the others (or perhaps even each other) a chance?

“I love racing,” says Lewis. “It doesn’t matter who it’s with. I’m a Formula One fan, and it would be better for everyone – especially for 
those watching – if Red Bull and Ferrari were closer. Right now, Nico’s doing well, so I am having a fight, and it’s going to be hard to keep 
the gap we have forever. I think it really depends on how everyone 
else does later in the season.”

Clearly, he’s happy to have a scrap or two, just so long as he comes 
out with fewer bruises than the other guys. Just look at how he won 
the championship in 2008 by trading meaty punches with both 
Ferraris. “I’ve always been like that, really,” he says. “Since I was a kid, 
my favourite races were when I came from the back, even if I didn’t 
win and finished third or second… they were the best weekends. It’s a different scenario now, especially when you start from pole position – 
it’s not easy, but it’s different.”

But by the time he arrives at the British Grand Prix, he could be virtually uncatchable. Especially on Silverstone’s long straights, where his Mercedes seems to find an extra few gears. And although this season’s cars won’t trouble your eardrums, there’s nothing quite like watching a Formula One car sweep through Copse and wriggle through Maggots. “It’s still one of the best circuits on the calendar,” says Lewis. “And I’m glad we still have some of the characteristics of the old circuit. Copse, Maggots… it’s fast, high-speed and flowing.”

He knows how to win there. He did so in 2008, and if it weren’t for 
a puncture, he might have won last year’s race too. If he doesn’t win this year, we’ll eat our helmets. Surely, with such a strong car and a home crowd, we’ll be hearing ‘God Save the Queen’ loud and clear, come 
3pm on Sunday 6 July. With such a quiet car, he might even hear 
some of the trackside roars…

“Ha, no…” he says. “Even though it’s quieter outside, it’s still loud inside. Although you do pick up more wind noise.” But just because 
he can’t hear you, don’t let it stop you from waving those Union Jacks. “In 2008,” he says, “it was raining – really terrible weather. I remember going through corners where everyone else was going off, and every time I got through one, I could see the fans stand up or wave 
or cheer, from the corner of my eye. You can feel the energy, 
it’s incredible, and I try to absorb it through the weekend.”

A home win would also be good news for Brand Hamilton. According to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List, Lewis is now 
Britain’s wealthiest sportsman, with a whopping £68 million under 
his mattress. And, sure, what 29-year-old wouldn’t fancy that? 
But while he has many baseball caps and bright white trainers, 
he certainly does his bit for those less fortunate. Just two days 
before talking to Top Gear, he was visiting troubled kids in Haiti with Unicef, for which he’s an ambassador. “I’m just trying to bring some awareness,” he says. “Nobody in the world would want their children to suffer and not eat food. It’s not the way the world should be.”

Here, then, is a man with a conscience, and – it would seem 
– an increasingly well-adjusted head on his shoulders. He might 
have lived an unconventional life by the standards of the average twentysomething, but as he approaches his thirties, he seems to 
be more comfortable with his place on this earth. And although 
he might not find the reminder overly helpful, he now has more grand prix wins than Jim Clark, and almost as many as Jackie Stewart and Nigel Mansell. In other words, he’s set to become 
the most successful British driver in history.

“People make me very much aware of that,” he says. “So, of course, I’m more conscious of it. But I still can’t believe where I 
am sometimes. It’s very surreal. Unthinkable. I just give thanks 
every day because I know it won’t last forever.”

The cloud, as we suspected, concerns relations with his 
teammate post-Monaco and whether Mercedes will continue to allow them to race each other as closely and entertainingly as they have up until now. How Lewis handles this pressure and his attitude to what he clearly sees as underhand tactics by the driver in the garage next door will be the real mark of the man.