There are circuits that can be ruthless. Tracks that keep memories of burning defeats, of mistakes that mark careers, of moments that remain suspended in time. For Lewis Hamilton, Shanghai is one of those.
Eighteen years ago, on this same track, he lost a World Championship sliding on the gravel a few laps from the finish line. It was 2007, his first year in Formula 1, and he still didn't know that he would rewrite the history of this sport. Today, however, he is a seven-time world champion. He won everything, challenged time, crossed epochs. And after a lifetime in Mercedes, he decided to start over.
He did it by choosing Ferrari. He did it at the age of forty, with the courage of those who are not afraid to get involved again.
And fate, who loves perfect stories, wanted Shanghai to be the theatre of his first victory wearing red.
Since the first lap of the weekend, Hamilton seemed to be in total control, in perfect harmony with the car. He demonstrated it in Q3 yesterday, with a lap that seemed painted on the asphalt. A perfect dance between the curves of the first sector, precise brushstrokes that gave him the pole for the Sprint.
And from there, this Saturday, he started. Clean air in front and determination from the first corner. A perfect start, a surgical pace management. One lap after another, he built an unfurmeassable margin. Behind him, the opponents could just observe from afar.
Of course, it's just a Sprint Race. It's not Sunday yet. But for both Ferrari and Hamilton it is the first time: the first victory in this format, a goal that until yesterday both lacked. Two primates that intertwine in an Italian night that will remain in history.
It's just the beginning. It's still Saturday, and it's just the second weekend of the season. But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the moment. In the place that once broke Hamilton's heart, today a new page of history is being written.
So, for once, let's leave aside calculations and perspectives. Let's take this moment, this victory, this emotion.
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