Until the start of this decade, Michael Schumacher had all the records under his belt and was probably the undisputed F1 GOAT. However, Lewis Hamilton has now either matched or broken all his stats and is statistically the most successful F1 driver ever.
His numbers also make a strong case for him to be the ever and have a large audience backing his claim. And even at 37, he is only willing to get more achievements.
Indeed, Hamilton will go down as the legend of this sport, and for many, he is even greater than Schumacher. But Schumacher wanted some things different from what happened.
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Michael Schumacher wanted Sebastian Vettel to fly
Before Hamilton went on a championship-winning streak, Sebastian Vettel was ruling the F1 world (Hamilton won his first championship before Vettel, though). The German won four championships in a row; at that time, he was only 26.
With so much success in such a short time, it felt like he would break all the records. Even Schumacher wanted the same, as he said he would prefer his compatriot to break all the records.
“If somebody can break all these records, then I prefer him to break it,” said Schumacher in 2013. Though unfortunately, after that, Vettel never won a championship again.
It marked the Lewis Hamilton era
In 2014, Red Bull hit a slump. The Milton-Keynes-based team’s car was unreliable and was lacking pace against Mercedes. Meanwhile, Vettel also dipped. The four-time world champion lost to his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the championship standings.
After that, the German joined Ferrari, where he got some success, but it never converted to a championship win. Instead, Hamilton won the championship every year till the end of that decade, except in 2016, when Nico Rosberg managed to fetch his maiden title.
But even that threat succumbed as Rosberg decided to retire. Meanwhile, Vettel was closest to winning a title in 2018, when he had an excellent first half to the season, but Hamilton went insane in the second half of the calendar.
From there onwards, Vettel only slipped away from contending for the championship. In 2021, he joined Aston Martin, which never had a chance to fight for the title during Vettel’s stint. In the end, Vettel retired from the sport after the 2022 season. Leaving Schumacher’s wish incomplete.
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