F1 | Hamilton Praised By Current And Former F1 Drivers As He Matches Schumacher's 91 Wins
This past weekend at the Eifel GP, with a race victory made by Mercedes AMG driver, Lewis Hamilton, obtained his 91st race victory as he now matches Michael Schumacher as the most successful driver in history of the sport.
Seeing Lewis Hamilton match Michael Schumacher's 91 Grand Prix victories at the Eifel Granx Prix on Sunday was something worth watching. It's not easy to win one Grand Prix, but to replicate it especially in a sport like Formula 1 in a span of 14 years is a very special achievement and one that Lewis Hamilton has every right to be proud of.
According to the race winner, he mentions "Michael is, and always will be, a legend" as he felt very humbled to equal the seven-time world champions win records.
Post-race, Mick Schumacher, son of the seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, presented Hamilton with one of his father's helmets at the end of the race.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen comments at a post-race conference, "it's an incredible achievement. Ninety-one wins, everyone thought that was almost impossible to reach, right? To be there now, himself, it’s incredible and very impressive. And I’m pretty sure there will be some more victories coming his way – and probably also championships. So, yep, just very impressive. And hard to beat."
Shortly after, third-placer Daniel Ricciardo adds on, "Tip of the hat at the very least! Ninety-one wins, everyone thought that was almost impossible to reach, right? To be there now, himself, it’s incredible and very impressive. And I’m pretty sure there will be some more victories coming his way – and probably also championships. So, yep, just very impressive. And hard to beat. You can have a package and a car to do it, but it’s doing it every weekend when the lights go out. It’s easier said than done. Certainly big respect. I think also the gift that he received, one of Michael’s helmets, that’s one of the coolest gifts I’ve ever seen in the sport, so it’s really nice to see that today."
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel also comments, "I can't respect his efforts enough. I think it's been a number in my head that I'd always thought would never be beaten, or equalled. I think we're generally quite certain that he will exceed this number! Nevertheless, I have to say that Michael will always be my hero, and I think Michael had something about him that I haven't seen in other drivers so far. It's probably the fact that I looked up to him when I was a child, and Lewis I didn't look up to when I was a child because I was racing him, so it's a different situation going in.But probably in another 10, 15, 20 years' time, there will be more admiration for that, but obviously when you're still active, you've looking at yourself and not so much at others. But as I said, you can't cherish him enough for what he has achieved"
When Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013, he was just a 21-time race winner. But a Mercedes victory being only two shy of Schumacher's record achieved during his time in Ferrari attracted team boss Toto Wolff, as he describes Hamilton's matching Schumacher's record as "surreal" adding that he anticpated Hamilton's final win count.
According to Wolff, he states, "For me, Michael stands above all, he’s an icon, and personally, equalling that record, and us equalling the Ferrari record last year [of six consecutive constructors’ titles], is almost surreal. But records are here to be broken, and I think that’s what Michael said as well. Lewis is still on his journey, but maybe there is somebody in nursery, or school that will one day go for the Lewis record and that’s how it should be.”
Even Mika Hakkinen, a retired two-time world champion praised Hamilton for matching Schumacher's race record. He states, "To win races and a World Championship requires many things, including a great car, strong teammate and excellent team of people to support you, and Lewis has benefitted from all of those things at Mercedes. But you also have to perform yourself, because no matter how good your car is, you have to do the driving, operate the systems in the right way, execute the right strategy and, most importantly of all, be a really good racing driver."
He also adds, "We all now expect it to be broken very soon, and we cannot imagine what the new record will be before Lewis decides to retire. Michael, of course, still holds records such as the most wins in a single season - 13 - and his place in history is assured, but Lewis is right there with him at the top of the record books.
The season is not over yet with plenty more races to go for the Mercedes driver to surpass the record and create his own name.
