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Lewis Hamilton Gets in a Drag Race Using His Old Race Car and Purple Helmet

Lewis Hamilton does not have the best relationship with his current race car, the W13, but he did have a better partnership with the W12, which was last year's single-seater from the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. In a new commercial for one of the team's partners, Lewis gets back behind the wheel of the W12 for a drag race.
Lewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercial 10 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube video by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Lewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercialLewis Hamilton drag races W12 against a supersonic jet in latest IWC commercial
While Lewis Hamilton did not win the 2021 Formula 1 Drivers' Championship with the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance, which is the full name of the race car that is abbreviated as the W12, the car did get the team another constructors' title. It was Mercedes-AMG's eighth consecutive constructors' title.

At the time, everyone was a bit surprised to see that Toto Wolff, the team principal, had skipped out on the award ceremony in protest of the way that some decisions were made during the season's last race.

Despite this, the W12, and its designers, starting with Technical director James Allison, deserve the prize, as the race car has helped the team obtain the most points in the constructor's championship.

Now, it looks like Lewis has moved on from that moment, and the British racing driver has come to terms with what has taken place since the last race of the 2021 season. Getting behind the wheel of the W12 is one of those steps if you ask us.

For the latest commercial that Lewis stars in, the British racer gets on an airstrip for an unusual drag race. Instead of competing against another Formula 1 race car or against a racing car of any kind, Hamilton faces a different rival in this brief video.

The unexpected competitor is described as a Top Gun Jet, while it is, in fact, a Northrop T-38 Talon, which is the world's first, and most produced supersonic trainer. It was originally used by the U.S. Air Force, but it is also used by NASA, as well as in several air forces in its 60-year career.

This twin-jet supersonic trainer was also involved in the real U.S. Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI), which is more known as Top Gun and inspired the first movie in the series. From this perspective, the commercial shows a “Top Gun jet” against Lewis Hamilton's racing car, because that aircraft has also been at the real TOPGUN school, as well as in the movie.

In case you are curious, the commercial is promoting the new IWC Pilot's Watch Chronograph Top Gun Edition “Lake Tahoe,” which is listed at CHF 11,000 (ca. $10.980) on the company's website. It has a ceramic case with a 44.5-millimeter diameter and comes with a white rubber strap that has a width of 21 mm, which is half the diameter of the case.

This is an automatic watch with a chronograph function, and it has a black dial with luminescence. The timepiece is inspired by the “Service Dress White” uniform of the US Navy, as well as the contrasting winter landscape with the snow-covered peaks around the largest freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada mountains.



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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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