Footage Shows Lewis Hamilton Being Embraced by Niki Lauda Over the Former’s Record Breaking 69th Pole in F1

There is no record which Lewis Hamilton hasn’t broken or isn’t close to breaking. Most pole positions, most points and very close to most race victories, the Britisher has put himself among the greatest of all times in the sport. If not for Mercedes, who knows what would have been the faith of Hamilton or the German team which has given him the car to perform.

During the 2017 Italian Grand Prix weekend, Lewis Hamilton broke Michael Schumacher’s decade-long record of the most pole positions. At the time, qualifying was held in a wet session and Lewis Hamilton pulled out the lap from almost nowhere. An unseen footage was spotted by us on Youtube showing Niki Lauda, the then non executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG F1 Team embracing Hamilton and congratulating him. Lauda leads the entire Mercedes team which welcome Lewis with a warm applause.

Niki Lauda was a very special influence in Lewis Hamilton’s life. Lauda was responsible for Mercedes signing the Britisher over other alternatives. He was a star at that time and Mercedes were a low midfielder so naturally he was to come at a very high price. If not for Lauda, Mercedes would have never accepted to pay Hamilton the fees he was asking for.

Not just for Hamilton, Lauda was a big influencer for the entire team. He was the strong force which was needed when Mercedes were struggling with managing Nico Rosberg alongside Hamilton. Unfortunately, Lauda passed away earlier this year on 20th May, before the Monaco Grand Prix. He was in hospital undergoing treatment for his kidneys. Mercedes and the entire F1 community held multiple tributes for him. Fans were encouraged to come wearing Lauda’s traditional red cap and all teams imprinted ‘We Miss You Lauda’ or other such tributes on their liveries.