Review of Lewis Hamilton, an active legend of Formula 1

Formula One has a new legend and this time he speaks English. Lewis Hamilton has become the current king of the most important motorsport in the world, with three consecutive championships in the last three years to add a total of 6 Formula 1 championships. In addition, Hamilton continues to be the clear favorite to take the title again,  in this 2020 with a Mercedes that seems to have no rival. The British driver has managed to break several of the records of the mythical Michael Schumacher and if he is champion, he would equal his mark of 7 Formula 1 championships, which would make both the top historical winners of this sport.

From remote control to Formula 1

Lewis Hamilton is 35 years old, born in the United Kingdom in 1985 and from the age of 6, he began his relationship with motorsport in a peculiar way: racing with remote control cars, in which he was capable of achieving victories versus adults in small tournaments, according to Race Fans. At the age of 8 and guided by his father, Anthony Hamilton, he began his career like any Formula 1 driver, driving karts and two years later the results began to be good, Hamilton conquered several championships and in 1998 he would become the youngest driver to be hired by a Formula 1 team, which in this case would be McLaren, although the agreement consisted of financial and technical support as well as the possibility of reaching the highest competition, but the British driver would continue to compete at the karting level.

Hamilton would continue to climb adequately in his career, going through single-brand tournaments with Renault where he drove a car for the first time when he was 16 years old, the result would not be good because he would crash on the third lap, although the team would repair it and he would continue the race without losing focus, according to team boss John Booth. Two years later he would be the champion of the category with 10 victories in 15 races, a record according to Arpem. Hamilton would then go through Formula 3 and GP2 Series with some championships achieved until 2007, in which McLaren would announce that Lewis Hamilton would be the racing partner of Fernando Alonso who came from two consecutive championships with Renault in Formula 1, an unexpected fact for the moment, as McLaren did not usually hire rookie drivers for the top flight.

The British would not disappoint as he would make his debut on the podium, getting third place in the Australian Grand Prix in 2007, from then on he would continue at the top and achieve several podiums to the point of commanding the championship, in addition to being located above in points with respect to Alonso, with whom he would have a controversial relationship. At the end of the season, Hamilton would be in second place in the drivers' championship tied with his partner, who would resign so that Heikki Kovalainen would be the new partner of the British driver according to Race Fans.

Becoming champion

In 2008 Hamilton would achieve his first Formula 1 championship despite several controversies with his driving that cost him points due to penalties, in the end he would win with a single point difference over Felipe Massa. In the following years, the McLaren car would not be good enough to compete with Red Bull and Ferrari, who would largely dominate the category, so in 2013 he would go to Mercedes to be a partner of Nico Rosberg, the latter would be champion that year where Mercedes' dominance would begin in the hybrid era of Formula 1.

In 2014 Hamilton would meet again with the championship after a close competition with his partner, in 2015 he would win his third championship again with Rosberg as runner-up, in 2016 it would be the last time that Hamilton would not be champion as Rosberg would surpass him and later retire from the Formula 1 and leave alone Hamilton, who would now share a team with his current teammate Valtteri Bottas, according to Race Fans. From there, Hamilton has not stopped being champion, totaling 6 championships and in search of the seventh this 2020.

Chasing Schumacher

In the world of Formula 1 the maximum reference is the former German driver Michael Schumacher, because until very recently the most important records of the competition belonged to him after his last championship in 2004 and his retirement in 2012. However, this 2020 seems to be the year in which Hamilton will surpass these great marks, in the case of the number of championships, Hamilton can match Schumacher as the most champion driver in Formula 1, according to El Siglo de Torreon.

But Hamilton has already surpassed the German pilot in several aspects, in the Spanish Grand Prix he became the pilot with the most podiums achieved with a total of 156, with an effectiveness of 61% – Schumacher's was 50% – of these 88 podiums have been victories, 40 second places, and 28 bronzes. He is also the driver with the most pole positions, starting in the first place 92 times, he also has the most points in history with 3,563.

Also read: Behind the pilot: Who makes up a Formula 1 team?

Hamilton has other records like winning more different Grand Prix and different circuits, according to 20 Minutes. Other possible records that Hamilton can snatch from Schumacher is the one with the most victories in the same team: Hamilton 67 and Schumacher 72, as well as victories in general: Hamilton 88 and Schumacher 91 (updated data after the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix). Given these recent improvements by Hamilton on the German driver, he commented “I don't know what to say, it's strange. All of us riders have grown up watching Michael and dreaming of being there. What I am living exceeds any childhood dream I could have ”, according to El Siglo de Torreon. In this way Hamilton would be marking his name in the history of Formula 1.