On October 1, 2006, Michaël Schumacher, driving a Ferrari, won in Shanghai during the Chinese Grand Prix.
The German clinched his 91st victory.
The absolute record at the time.
A brand which then seemed insurmountable.
And yet!
While the "red baron" was near the end of his career, a young wolf made his appearance at McLaren in 2007: Lewis Hamilton.
And what an introduction.
Vice-champion in his first season and winner in the second (2008), becoming at the time the youngest world champion in F1.
The Hamilton phenomenon was born.
In any case, that's what we thought.
But the rest was more delicate.
For four years, he alternated between good and bad but could no longer fight for the supreme title.
Bored, the future six-time world champion then left McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013 and thus succeed… “Schumi”, who had just retired.
A daring choice at the time but which ultimately turns out to be the perfect marriage.
Records in shambles with the German brand
Since then, success has been at the center of Lewis Hamilton's attention.
Records fall.
One after the other.
Six-time world champion, he completed seven seasons at Mercedes for five driver titles (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019).
In 2017, he wiped Schumacher from the shelves by dispossessing him of the record for number of pole positions in Monza, Italy, where the German built his legend.
On Saturday, the Briton slammed his 97th pole in Portimao, twenty-nine more than the "red baron".
A hole !
And Sunday, it is the record of victories which fell.
The two legends were tied (91) since the Mercedes driver's victory at the Eifel Grand Prix.
He is now all alone, at the top, after his 92nd victory in Formula 1 obtained at the Portimao track.
The numbers are breathtaking.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) claimed the 92nd victory of his Formula 1 career on Sunday, breaking Michael Schumacher's record for success.
This year he is aiming for a 7th world champion title that would allow him to equal another record of the legendary German driver # AFPpic.twitter.com / yYrFUlc3jS
- Agence France-Presse (@afpfr) October 25, 2020
Hamilton contested 262 races for 92 wins.
He therefore won one in three races.
It is colossal.
But this is just one of many.
Sunday, he climbed to his 161st F1 podium.
He had also dispossessed of the podium record a certain… Schumacher in Spain this year.
In Portugal, he also completed his 225th race in points and now has 3,687 units on his career clock.
There too these are records.
Numbers that make ordinary people dizzy but also push the Briton to surpass himself.
This pulls him and his team towards excellence.
Always with this feeling of being able to do better.
#PortugueseGP
Formula One - 92 wins for Lewis Hamilton
▶ ️ https://t.co/7plkVVV12vpic.twitter.com/K1F7uScSsT
- CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) October 25, 2020
Objective: eight world championship titles
Yes, Hamilton can go even higher.
Driven by Mercedes, a team that thirsts for success, he has all the cards in hand to go for the world title record.
He knows it and that is why after his victory in Portugal, he paid them a nice tribute: “I want to thank all the guys who are at the factory because they are the ones who allow me to go so high.
We do not sit on success, we continue to progress.
This collaboration is fantastic ”.
A cooperation which should lead Lewis Hamilton to a seventh world title in a few weeks.
He will thus equal Michaël Schumacher.
Before overtaking it in 2021?
Read also
Lewis Hamilton, the driver of all (or almost) records
