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Lewis Hamilton took his 91st Formula One victory today, equalling a Michael Schumacher record that’s stood since 2006. Hamilton now holds 37 F1 records, including most career points, most career pole positions, most points in a single season and the youngest driver ever to lead the world drivers’ championship.
Schumacher always maintained that records were set to be broken. And in that spirit, Hamilton was presented with one of his helmets by his son, Mick Schumacher, who had been set to make his Grand Prix session debut this weekend before Friday practice was canceled by heavy fog. (The elder Schumacher has remained out of public life since he suffered a serious brain injury in a 2013 skiing accident.)
Hamilton said that he had never imagined he would equal Schumacher’s records, having looked up to him as a child.
“You grow up watching someone and you generally idolize them in terms of the quality of the driver they are, what they are continuously able to do year on year, race on race, week on week with their team,” Hamilton said after being presented with the helmet.
“You grow up watching someone and you generally idolize them in terms of the quality of the driver they are, what they are continuously able to do year on year, race on race, week on week with their team,” he said. “Just seeing his dominance for so long, I don’t think anyone—especially me—imagined that I would be anywhere near Michael in terms of records, so it’s an incredible honor. It’s going to take some time to get used to it.”
Hamilton is not your average F1 driver. Aside from the obvious—in the sense that he is actually cool—he’s the first driver since Schumacher to aggressively challenge all of those records. A lot of the drivers spoken in glowing tones—fellow multiple-time world champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, for instance—have done incredible things, but the Mercedes ace is now systematically dismantling the sport’s all-time records.
Schumacher’s 91 wins were set over 15 seasons between 1992 and 2006, Hamilton’s over the 14 seasons since he entered the sport in 2007, over an expanded calendar compared to the 90s. Hamilton currently leads the 2020 World Drivers Championship by 69 points, after a season where he has repeatedly challenged the sport on racial equality and vowed to continue speaking out on civil and human rights issues.
Six races remain in this season, after heavy disruption from the coronavirus pandemic.
