Hamilton has already well established himself as an all-time great, but just how much can he stamp his name on the record books?
If he wins the championship this year and remains in a competitive car for a few more seasons, he would have a realistic chance of matching or maybe even beating Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world championships.
However, even if he gets close, the 32-year-old has said that he’s not going to specifically chase after it because it’s not a record he’s specifically fussed about.
“Honestly, I’m working just step by step. It’s hard enough to get these championships won one at a time; it’s hard enough just to get this fourth one. Currently, it’s quite clear for me. Who knows if we’re going to get anywhere near Michael? Seven championships – I personally don’t have a desire to chase that.”
It might seem strange for a highly-motivated sports person to not want to chase records – Sebastian Vettel loves breaking them, and Fernando Alonso has said he wants to win motor racing’s triple crown so that he can be considered as one of the great drivers of all time.
Hamilton isn’t totally apathetic to record-breaking though. Whilst the number of titles doesn’t interest him, he admitted that Schumacher’s record of 91 wins is something that he does fancy having a crack at.
“The wins feel more exciting to try and chase. Records are there to be broken, so at some stage someone will break them. Whether it’s me, I can’t tell you.”
Could he do it? He’d need to win another 32 races to beat the record, which seems like a lot, but then again there was a time where Schumacher’s pole record looked unbeatable and Hamilton managed to take that, so who knows.
Despite persistent rumours of Lewis ‘doing a Rosberg’ and retiring from F1 early it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. He reaffirmed just how much he’s loving this season and how well he feels he’s driving.
“I’m loving driving more than ever. I feel like I’m driving better than ever. I feel the most whole as a driver that I’ve ever been, which is a great feeling. I’m enjoying the challenge – the fact we have a balanced car alongside a Ferrari and sometimes a Red Bull, so it’s great to be able to be challenged by another team and really have to play on your qualities and work on your weaknesses.
“But at the end of every season, you always have a think about your future. I set a good five-year plan, but it gets altered every year as you add another year onto it.”
