ok wait this Max and Charles love talking to each other (in fact Charles used the word favorite) but have no contact outside of the paddock thing really puts this moment (Max drunkenly shouting to Charles from a yacht) into perspective. Max only talks to Charles when the adrenaline is high or when he's drunk I mean what does this tell us

How Lewis Hamilton became an F1 record-breaker

WhenMichael Schumacherscored his 91st and final grand prix victory, it was impossible to imagine anyone getting anywhere near his record. Yet just 14 years after he crossed the finish line in China on 1 October 2006, a man who would only make his Formula 1 debut a few months later has now officially surpassed the German on race wins, and surely soon on world titles as well – and there isn't even a flicker of surprise about that.For some time, it has seemed only a question of when, not if,Lewis Hamiltonwill statistically become the greatest of them all. The 35-year-old sure has come a long way since Martin Whitmarsh first met a strikingly confident karting prodigy. AsMcLarenboss Ron Dennis's loyal and trusted lieutenant, Whitmarsh gained an insight into the vulnerabilities of a superstar in the making, then played a leading role in guiding the precocious talent through the pitfalls of his early F1 career.Whitmarsh doesn't pretend to know Hamilton like he used to, autel maxisys update. although it's surely significant that he has been personally invited to join the six-time world champion's new commission to investigate diversity in motorsport. Now on the other side of a successful F1 career that included a spell as McLaren team principal (until Dennis manoeuvred him out of the company that he loved so dearly in 2014), Whitmarsh simply watches Hamilton's rise with pride. He's a bystander, perhaps, but one more deeply and personally informed than most. Here he talks us through Hamilton's career to date."Lewis was very young when I first met him. He had this earnest and focused desire to win, an air of self-confidence. Whether it was instructed by his father or was a natural inclination, he had a desire to crush your hand when he shook it and look you in the eye. I didn't have too much involvement in his karting, but I got involved during his transition from karts into cars. He was polite and determined and wanted to make an impression.""His transition into cars wasn't easy. He had grown up and been very successful in karts, but it was an interesting phase when he came to Formula Renault, because he didn't have quite the same self-assurance. I remember calling him after races when I knew he had immense pressure from himself and from his father. I felt it was appropriate to support him, to tell him that we believed in him and that it was a long path."Hamilton won the FormulaRenaultUK title at his second attempt, then graduated with Manor Motorsport to the Formula 3 Euroseries. At the end of a promising first year, he and his father wanted to push on to the new GP2 series – but Whitmarsh urged caution."We had a lot of friction and disagreement. He wanted to go to GP2 and I wanted him to do another year of F3. I didn't feel there was a rush, and he needed to rediscover that self-assurance he had had in karting. I wanted Lewis to have the pressure of a second season. In your rookie year, you can excuse yourself, because there are always those with more experience. If you stay back, you are the favourite, you have to deliver. In that second F3 season, he restored that old reassurance."He didn't want to do it. In fact, I released him from his contract. I tore it up in front of him and his father, saying: ‘We're here to help; if you believe we're injuring your career, it's best you go.' Fortunately, six weeks later they came back. I'm delighted they did! I moved Lewis from Manor to ASM [soon to become ART] and he dominated. He was then more prepared to graduate to GP2 with career momentum. Hopefully Lewis believes now it was the right call."Hamilton blitzed the 2006 GP2 title, then McLaren offered him the chance of a lifetime – as team-mate in F1 to incoming championFernando Alonso ."We signed Fernando first before we gave Lewis the other seat. I remember saying to him: ‘Your dad knows, but what about your mum?' She was working in a factory. So I rang the factory and asked for a supervisor, who got Brenda off the factory line. I handed the phone over to Lewis and he said: ‘Mum, I'm an F1 driver now.' A lovely moment. Then when we told Fernando, he said: ‘We're meant to be fighting for the championship. How can we fight w...