Lewis Hamilton usually does not try to say big words about himself, rather he has an image of a star racer, who is adorned with a certain modesty, but who certainly knows his worth. However, there are situations when he does not consider it necessary to restrain himself and does not hesitate to talk about his achievements.
During an interview with the Dutch magazine Formule 1, he was reminded that there has not been a racer in the history of Formula 1 who has managed to achieve victories after reaching the 300 Grand Prix milestone, while the seven-time world champion has already there 310.
“But there’s never been a rider like me,” replied Lewis.
The journalists of the Spanish newspaper Marca turned to the statistics and collected this information: if Hamilton wins at least one race in the coming season, he will block the old record of Kimi Raikkonen, who won his last victory in the 289th race – it was the American Grand Prix of 2018.
The Mercedes driver took his 103rd and final victory to date in December 2021 in Saudi Arabia and it was his 287th race in Formula 1.
Fernando Alonso occupies the third line in this peculiar ranking: his last achievement was victory in the Spanish Grand Prix in 2013, and this was his 201st race. Moving to Aston Martin, however, the two-time world champion speaks of his desire for new victories – time will tell to what extent his dreams come true, but so far the Silverstone team has failed to build cars that can truly compete with the leaders. Incidentally, the Spaniard already has 359 starts in Formula 1.
In any case, the fact remains that the 2022 season was the only season in Hamilton’s career in which he failed to win a single race. But his young partner, George Russell, opened the scoring in Brazil.
Lewis assures that this does not upset him: “If I can say anything about last year, it is only that our team has become more experienced and more focused.”
Of course, Hamilton and Mercedes will try to recoup in 2023. There is no doubt about his abilities and the team’s potential, but whether he will be able to return to the top of the podium depends more on the strength of his opponents.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
