“I don’t even know whether it will be possible to win 7 world championships”: Lewis Hamilton had no faith that he can match Michael Schumacher

Lewis Hamilton is statistically the most successful F1 driver in history. With seven titles and 103 Grand Prix wins, he is the most decorated figure in the sport.

In his first year in F1, the Briton ended up being the runner-up in the F1 standings. He lost that tile by only a point. Nowhere a rookie had done this before, and never again has it been repeated.

So, it has been apparent since the beginning that he is destined for success. He won his first championship title in his sophomore year, and the rest is history, as he is arguably the greatest athlete to grace F1.

Also read: McLaren boss reveals how crucial Daniel Ricciardo was to them despite enduring difficult times

Lewis Hamilton never believed he could beat Michael Schumacher

Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are often pitted together in the F1 GOAT debate. However, by 2020, Schumacher had either overtaken or matched all the records by his Mercedes predecessor. But 16 years ago, Hamilton had no belief that he would reach this milestone.

but can your favourite artist win 91 races like lewis hamilton and/or michael schumacher? https://t.co/3ZNPTgheGC pic.twitter.com/N30b1koLFG

— lowan (@pluvillion) December 23, 2022

“I don’t know whether it will be possible for me to win seven world championships,” said Hamilton in a video that appeared online from 2006 when the Briton was in GP2.

Hamilton that year comprehensively won the GP2 title by beating Nelson Piquet Jr and Timo Glock on the way. His excellent performances in the junior series made McLaren have faith in him and place him against Fernando Alonso.

He made the biggest F1 gamble

Hamilton remained with McLaren for five years but couldn’t replicate his 2008 success with them. In fact, he was getting far away from contesting titles with every passing year.

So, in 2012, he made a big gamble and shifted his services to a rising team Mercedes in 2013. However, he was massively criticized for his move as it was even perceived as a career suicide.

But in the end, Hamilton went on a winning spree with Mercedes from 2014 onwards and added six more titles to his tally. Everyone had to agree that they predicted the outcome of the move wrongly.

Surely, Hamilton would have contemplated the move thoroughly. The presence of Niki Lauda as an adviser must have given him some confidence, but any day it was a huge risk to jump from a glorious ship to a team which was yet to prove itself and relatively remained in midfield.

It could easily be called the biggest gamble in F1 by a driver in the sport’s history. But as they say fortune favours the brave, and that’s what happened with Hamilton.

Also read: Fernando Alonso once won in ice in just 2 laps despite starting second last

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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