Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start in his 300th Formula 1 race this weekend in Le Castellet for the French Grand Prix.
Since making his debut in 2007, Hamilton has gone on to become F1’s most successful driver of all time. In the 299 races he’s been a part of till date, he has won 103 which is a staggering number.
He won his first race and Title with McLaren, but left the Woking outfit in 2013 to join Mercedes. He made history with the Silver Arrows thereafter, winning six World Titles and is now the driver with the most number of race wins, pole positions and fastest laps.
2022 however has been a bit of a disappointment for Hamilton. Mercedes don’t have the strongest car on the grid anymore. Red Bull and Ferrari are mostly competing for race wins every single weekend, and it has left Mercedes struggling for podium results.
Ahead of Hamilton’s 300th start at Circuit Paul Ricard on Sunday, a certain record has his fans worried.
No driver has won a race after completing 300 in F1; will Lewis Hamilton break the chain?
Hamilton started the year off on a bad note. He was struggling heavily with porpoising issues, and could not get up to speed in his W13. His teammate George Russell outperformed him on almost all fronts.
Lately however, he has bounced back strongly. He comes into the 2022 French GP on the back of three consecutive podium finishes, and will look to continue the same.
Uh oh! Drivers crossing the 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ race starts landmark have not won another race in Formula 1.
Can #LewisHamilton be the first one to do so?#F1 #FrenchGP pic.twitter.com/ZZdCrnAGWV
— F1 StatsGuru (@f1statsguru) July 20, 2022
A worrying stat may worry some of his fans. No driver in F1 history, has ever won a race after completing 300 starts. This is not a huge list, but includes some of the greatest drivers of all time in Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
It should also be noted that the beforementioned drivers did not really driver very competitive cars. Hamilton, whose Mercedes is the third fastest this season, may be in for a shot at a race win.
