Lewis Hamilton’s dominant win at the Styrian Grand Prix got him closer to two major records held by the legendary Michael Scumacher. We take a look at the records, and when can we expect it to broken by Hamilton.
It was yet another routine performance from Lewis Hamilton, only this was much more impressive. He look assured from start to finish, the win never in doubt. He is currently trailing his teammate Valtteri Bottas in the Driver’s Championship tally, but could well change. Bottas has 43 points to Hamilton’s 37, after two races of the 2020 season.
Nevertheless, he has inched closer to two major records held by the all-time great Michael Schumacher.
The first one is the number of successful podium finishes, with his 152nd just three shy of the German’s 155. This record looks set to break in the month of August, with races in Great Britain, Spain and Belgium confirmed.
The more significant record is of the most F1 Grand Prix since its inception in the 1950s. This record is also held by Michael Schumacher, with 91 race wins. Lewis Hamilton is six wins short of it, and could in all probability, claim it in Italy, the home of bitter rivals Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton vs Michael Schumacher
Hamilton takes his 85th career win! He’s now just six wins behind Schumacher’s all-time record of 91.#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bsrwlQoWiD
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 12, 2020
Italy is scheduled to host two Grand Prix in September, albeit in different tracks. The first one will be in Monza, during the first weekend of September. The second one is going to take place in Ferrari’s home track – the Mugello. This after FOM confirmed that Mugello and Sochi are the new races being added to the 2020 calendar.
If Hamilton does end up breaking the race wins record at Mugello, it will be a hard pill to swallow for Ferrari. It not only means Mercedes winning at their turf, but also the fact that Hamilton would be breaking the record of Ferrari’s greatest-ever driver. Schumacher won 5 of his seven world titles at Ferrari, in an era of dominance from 2000 to 2004. He incidentally also raced for Mercedes on his comeback to F1, from the 2010 to 2012 seasons.
