The triumph of teamwork

Ut victor spolia. To the victor the spoils.  Unfortunately this adage does not necessarily apply if you are the team working diligently and successfully behind an efficacious individual.

While Team Sky are acknowledged and collected a trophy at the last Tour de France they rarely receive the same accolades as cyclist Chris Froome.

Conversely there can be individuals within a team sport who through outstanding achievement raise the level of the collective – think Peyton Manning at the Indianapolis Colts or Michael Jordan at the Chicago Bulls. Although here I must reserve special mention for Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics whose 11 career NBA titles will take some beating yet perhaps didn’t receive the recognition he truly deserved given his role in defence.  You could also argue that Team USA did so well at gymnastics due to the individual excellence of Simone Biles, already considered to be one of the greatest of all time.

Alternatively there are sports such as sailing that transcend the traditional individual versus team sport boundaries.

I appreciate that there is an argument that despite the teamwork of support behind the individual, it takes someone of rare drive and talent to reach the top.  This is true and there are certainly numerous examples where a successful team has been let down by the performance of the man or woman that counts.

All of which leaves me somewhat frustrated that, despite Mercedes clinching the Constructor’s championship, the vast majority of the media preferred to focus on the possibility of Lewis Hamilton securing the driver’s title last weekend in Mexico.

When Lewis Hamilton won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award in 2014, Mercedes didn’t get a look in.

The British World Champion has had a record-breaking season, made all the more remarkable given the manner in which he has had to overcome the disappointments of last season. 

It is difficult to argue that he does not deserve this latest success given the number of times he has secured pole position or won a race. He has come under closer scrutiny and pressure as a result of the proximity of Sebastien Vettel, whose own challenge came unstuck when he imploded off the start line in Singapore.

From a team perspective it is ironic that this year Hamilton has won given that he has faced the closest challenges from other teams while his own car has been difficult to handle, slow (relatively) when in traffic and inconsistent at tracks where more downforce is required.

Amidst claims from Bernie Ecclestone that Mercedes are themselves responsible for the upturn in Ferrari’s engine performance (laughed off by team boss, Toto Wolff), the German car manufacturer have set records of their own.

Of course Lewis Hamilton’s driving has been so hot that he set off a fire extinguisher in Vettel’s car (actually the Ferrari driver had a screw loose)!

When Lewis Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013 it took the grid by surprise, although it was based on the promise of future potential by the then team principal, Ross Brawn. He must have placed a lot of faith in Brawn as the team had won only one race since rejoining the sport in 2010.

Yet Hamilton’s success at Austin secured Mercedes a fourth consecutive title – better even than Hamilton himself has managed (although I know there will be some Hamilton fans who claim it was ‘the management’ looking after Rosberg that put a dent in his record last season).

Hamilton’s individual title will mean that the team has secured four consecutive doubles, a feat matched by only three other teams in history.  While Schumacher and Ferrari were successful together between 2000 and 2004 and Vettel with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013, only one team has achieved this with drivers sharing titles.

This was McLaren 1988 and 1991 when the illustrious pair of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna achieved the feat. While theoretically it is easier to achieve the constructors’ title with two top drivers, two drivers consistently taking points off each other reduces their individual opportunity.

However, what sets apart Mercedes’ achievement is that they become the first team to ever defend a title after a major rule change. 

While it is true that Mercedes won the battle of the new hybrid power units in 2014, this season the Silver Arrows have successfully managed the introduction of significantly wider tyres on new compounds along with changes to most of the body and rear diffuser.

Wolff acknowledged the importance of the whole team, not just those attending race days but also those beavering away behind the scenes in Brackley and Brixworth.

Even if the media has largely ignored their achievements, at least Hamilton himself, as with Froome, has consistently acknowledged the value of the team. 

On social media he thanks the team and the fans: “I am so grateful to all 1,500 people in my team who all have a dream of making the best F1 car and tirelessly make that dream a reality. My fans, #TeamLH, I would not be here without you. You’ve carried me through adversity and shared my joy in moments such as these. Truly, thank you. We are all rising together and I am so excited for what our future brings together.”

No success is ever attributed exclusively to an individual.

“To be honest, this fourth world title is not even registering right now. There is all this energy from the people around you, but it takes a while for it to really sink in. I am incredibly grateful when I think about everything that was going on this year and everything that had to be in place to produce this result. I didn’t do this on my own, there are over a thousand people back in Brackley and Brixworth who have created this beast that has given me the opportunity to exploit my abilities. I have received such great support from around the world, and I want to thank all of you that believed in me. To do this on Mexican soil, to shine a positive light on a country that has been through such a difficult time over the past few months, makes this really special. It doesn’t matter what happened in the race today. I carry ‘Still I Rise’ on the back of my helmet – it means when you get knocked down, you get back up again and keep pushing as hard as you can. I never gave up, and I kept pushing. Four is a great number – but I want number five now!”  

- Winner Lewis Hamilton

“This was the hardest championship ever, but it was also extremely well deserved. We had quite some up and downs this season with the new cars and tyres. We had to accept the fact that this is the reality now, and to progress was very difficult for the team and really took the maximum out of us. Lewis probably showed the best and most constant performance of his entire career this season, he has made a step forward in every respect and there is no doubt whatsoever that today the right man was crowned world champion today. While the result was good, the race was not what we had hoped for. But I’d like to just look at the positives today and not dig into a controversy that is not necessary at this stage – Lewis won the championship!”

- Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff

“The right man won the title this year, Lewis absolutely deserves this! He’s my team mate, so I know he’s not only talented, but also a hard worker, and a really nice guy. So even though we’re competing, I’m also happy for him – but I still want to beat him next year. The race today was pretty straightforward after the start. I saw in Turn 2 that Max and Sebastian were side-by-side, and one of them went a bit wide, so I knew Turn 3 was going to be a mess. So I decided to go inside and cut the corner and get a good exit. After that there was not much happening. Unfortunately, we couldn’t challenge Max today, so I drove it home. We saw we didn’t have the pace to win the race, so we have a lot of things to learn. But overall, it was not a bad day for us – I felt I got the most out of the car, it was good to be on the podium after such a long time, and of course Lewis won the title.”

- Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas