At the start of the 2024 season, Lewis Hamilton sent a cold shiver down the spine of F1TV presenter Lawrence Barretto. The seven-time world champion seemingly called him out during the driver’s parade interview at the Bahrain GP for Barretto’s start-of-season driver rankings.
Barretto, who was interviewing the #44 driver before the start of the race, was caught off guard by Hamilton. Hamilton had said, “Let me pull you up on something. You rated me pretty low on the predictions.” The 39-year-old quickly diffused the situation then by adding, “No, I’m just messing with you!”
Barretto recently appeared alongside Will Buxton and Jolyon Palmer to rank the most memorable mid-season moments of 2024 so far on F1’s YouTube channel. Looking back at the moment, he said, “I died a little bit inside. I’m sweating right now thinking about it!”
will buxton and jolyon palmer reacting to lewis hamilton calling lawrence barretto out on his season prediction 😭😭😭😭@wbuxtonofficial : "one of my favourite moments of the year" REAL 😭
📹F1
— sim (@sim3744) August 18, 2024
As Buxton explained, all the F1TV presenters were asked to hand in their predictions even before pre-season testing had concluded. Barretto had placed the seven-time world champion seventh on his list. Hilariously, though, the other panelists decided to place this moment in the ‘Legendary’ tier for the sheer tension Barretto had suffered owing to it.
Hamilton is on course to proving Barretto wrong
Barretto’s predictions, at least with respect to Hamilton, have not been wildly inaccurate yet as the British driver finds himself sixth in the driver’s standings. However, when Barretto made his predictions, he did not account for the development the Silver Arrows had planned for the W15.
Sir Lewis Hamilton's journey from the end of 2021 to his triumph at the British GP in 2024 ~ Narrated by Martin Brundle, for Sky Sports. HAD to share it here for the geoblocked.
"…when you look at all the clips of his story the past two years, my goodness, he has been through… pic.twitter.com/37uEfFusk6
— sim (@sim3744) July 22, 2024
Since their front-wing update at the 2024 Monaco GP, the team have unlocked massive pace from its challenger. Moreover, Hamilton seems to have found back his race-winning mojo. The last five races have seen Mercedes win three races – with Hamilton securing two of those wins (Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps).
With still ten races to go in 2024, Hamilton can leap-frog several drivers. He currently holds a tally of 150 points. With the likes of Ferrari faltering, Hamilton is only 27 points off Charles Leclerc, who sits in third in the driver’s standings.
