As a four-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton may not be feeling the need or desire to match or beat Michael Schumacher’s world titles but Maybe matching Fangio would suffice?
“I can’t see it at the moment,” said Hamilton, who at 32 is the same age Schumacher was when he claimed his fourth title. “Four more? It’s taken me 10 years to achieve these four… I don’t know – I still don’t currently have that desire to match it.”
Hamilton would match Fangio with one more championship and be right behind Schumacher for most tiles ever won in Formula 1.
“Matching Fangio could be quite cool,” offered Hamilton, “and being that I’m going to be here for at least another couple of years, that’s my goal – to at least try to get that.”
Seven is a lot and it depends on a lot to be honest. Will he stay with Mercedes for three to four more years? Will Mercedes continue to dominate F1 or at least have a race-winning car? Many factors that make up your chance for success.
In the end, I think if Lewis decided to stop tomorrow, he’s made an incredibly big mark on F1 as one of the greats and would have nothing to regret in my opinion. Lewis has achieved a lot in the sport and broken his fair share of records already. For Lewis, title count doesn’t define him.
“I don’t think the amount of titles that I have, when I’m older and I look back, I don’t think that’s really going to define who I am as a driver.
“I think how I’ve worked with the team, how I’ve driven the car, how every time I drive a car I extract it [performance], that for me is what I feel inside defines me.”
I agree with that. I think we can all point to drivers who have made big impacts, been considered some of the greatest and yet haven’t reached the record-breaking totals of Schumacher.
Moss, Senna, Prost, Rindt, Stewart, Clark, Alonso, Vettel, Hunt et. al. Many names come to mind and I think for most F1 fans, Hamilton will be right there with them.
Hat Tip: F1.com
Mercedes could however see themselves setting the record for most consecutive contructors championships.
They are level with McLaren and Red Bull on four. Two behind Ferrari who made six (with Schumacher and Irvine/Barachello).
Another three seasons with the current chassis and p.u format, so potentially they could match or beat Ferrari to the most consecutive constructors championships.
A suggestion of you Todd /NC,
How about a ‘what I love about F1’ thread over the Christmas period?
The FBC followers are obviously addicted to F1, despite the fact most of the articles and posts focus on whats bad / screwed up / destroying ‘OUR’ beautiful sport, so how about giving us a platform share why we follow F1 and what about it brings joy into our hearts?
Starting with yourself and the FBC Team, then open it up to the followers.
Sure, there is a lot more to love than dislike for sure. Those things that are frustrating have a big impact on the sport but there are tons of things to love about it.
Cheers NC, I’ll look forward to the thread
I could see Hamilton and Vettel battling each other to see who can best Fangio’s record first, if at all.
On the other hand, Lewis has acheived so much and right now, he has the youth, connections, and cachet to completely change his career and become extremely successful at that too.
Both are intriguing options. That’s a problem I’d like to have!