Mercedes’ technical chief James Allison has praised Lewis Hamilton’s sporting integrity and says the World Champion has an “utterly unblemished record.”
Hamilton has claimed six world titles and 84 wins since making his debut in 2007 – second only to Michael Schumacher on the all-time list.
Allison joined Hamilton at Mercedes at the start of 2017, taking on the role as Technical Director, following previous spells at Benetton, Renault and Ferrari.
Mercedes has maintained its unbeaten spell during Allison’s time at the helm of the technical team, with Hamilton claiming the Drivers’ title in each season.
“I was brought up in a ‘Forces’ household, my father was in the RAF [Royal Air Force] and integrity is placed high up on values,” Allison said in an interview produced by Mercedes.
“I got that from my family background, I’ve been lucky to work with people like that.
“I do think that is a characteristic that marks out Lewis, he’s one of the oldest on the grid now, he still drives like one of the youngest.
“He, in a career of multiple championships and countless wins… you’ll struggle to find a moment on the track where you see Lewis do something ugly.
“You’ll see him do many, many breath-taking things, brave things, but you won’t see just crude dodgems, bumper car stuff, or any sort of artifice to the way he drives.
“I hope that he manages to keep this going for the remainder of his driving career because it’s an utterly unblemished record.
“I think amongst multiple World Champions it is unprecedented to have all that success without anything that has even a hint of a shadow of poor sportsmanship hanging over it and I think it’s impressive.”
Allison added that “the level of drive that Lewis has, indeed all these multiple World Champions have, is quite staggering.
“You can think you’re a driven person and then you bump into someone who really is and you realise you’re a middle of the road lackadaisical drifter by comparison.
“I do think there comes a time where the driver’s race craft is still incredibly strong but that last little extra special something that gives them the qualifying genius starts to slip through their fingers.
“The interesting thing with Lewis is that’s still very much with him and I think he’s blessed with extraordinary physical talents to go with this mental dedication that is quite freakish.”
