Lewis Hamilton makes Mercedes breakthrough to kickstart historic F1 partnership

Thirteen years ago today, on 28 July 2013, Lewis Hamilton stood on the top step of the podium at the Hungaroring and did something that seemed entirely routine for a driver of his calibre, yet it was anything but.

His victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix that year, won from pole position ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel, was Hamilton's first for Mercedes. It was the spark that lit a fire which would burn brighter than anything F1 had seen before.

"This is probably one of the most important Grand Prix wins of my career," Hamilton said after the chequered flag. "To move to a new team and to win for Mercedes-Benz is a real privilege."

At the time, the significance was impossible to fully appreciate. Hamilton's switch from McLaren had raised eyebrows, with Mercedes hardly the force they would become.

The W04 was a tyre-hungry machine, prone to degradation in the heat, and the Hungaroring offered ambient temperatures of around 35°C. It should have been a disaster.

Instead, Hamilton executed a bold three-stop strategy to perfection, controlling the race from lights to flag. It was his 22nd career victory and, remarkably, the last time anyone other than Vettel would win in 2013, with the Red Bull driver reeling off nine consecutive victories to close out the season.

What followed for Hamilton and Mercedes, though, was extraordinary. Over the next 11 seasons, Hamilton won a further 83 grands prix for the Silver Arrows, taking his tally with the team to 84, the most by any driver with a single constructor. He claimed 78 pole positions in Mercedes machinery, another record, and stood on the podium 153 times.

Six drivers' championships arrived in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, tying Michael Schumacher's all-time record of seven titles.

Mercedes, meanwhile, swept eight consecutive constructors' crowns from 2014 to 2021, a period of dominance unmatched in the sport's history.

Along the way, Hamilton surpassed Schumacher's once-untouchable benchmarks for career wins and pole positions, becoming the first and only driver to reach 100 in both categories.

All 84 of his Mercedes victories came with its power unit, as did his earlier wins at McLaren, meaning every single one of Hamilton's career victories to that point had been Mercedes-powered.

The now-Ferrari driver — who has since won his 106th grand prix, his first without Mercedes — began his journey with the Silver Arrows with a gutsy drive in the Budapest sun. Everything that came after — the titles, the records, the transformation of both driver and team into the most successful partnership F1 has ever known — traces back to this day in 2013.