| Title statistics in Formula 1 inevitably lead to the most futile exercise among pundits: assigning to a specific driver his position among the all-time greats.The dust and fumes had hardly settled at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez stadium, after Lewis Hamilton’s series of championship donuts, when the big debate kicked off, with the usual suspects pitting the kid from Stevenage against the legend he had just equaled, the great Fangio.
Rather than resorting to subjective compares, the value of which are certainly dubious, let(s keep it simple, and ask whether F1’s 2018 world champion can match – and perhaps overhaul – Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles and 91 race wins. Can Lewis do a Schumi? We know that Hamilton should theoretically remain in F1 until the end of 2020, at the very minimum, per the terms of his latest Mercedes contract. While matching Schumacher’s title tally within that period is certainly realistic, achieving a 50 percent win rate in the following two years also isn’t an impossible feat, if Mercedes continues to deliver the goods. Cue at this point his former nemesis, Nico Rosberg, who chimed in on the subject after watching his former team mate clinch his fifth crown. “He can seriously go for Schumacher’s records now,” said the 2016 world champ. “He’s got two more years on the contract, and Schumi is only two titles away, 20 race wins away, even that’s possible in two years. “It’s amazing. He can really try to become statistically the best of all-time, which is unreal, but it is a possibility, and I’m sure he’s going to be motivated by that.” Should Lewis continue his forward march and tag Schumacher, perhaps even surpass his title record, his classification among the all-time greats will again come under review. We’ll cross that immaterial bridge when/if we get to it… Phillip van Osten |
