Sponsored: Can Hamilton’s F1 records ever be beaten?

That year’s Chinese Grand Prix marked his 91st career Formula 1 victory and surely firmly cemented the seven-time world champion as the de-facto greatest of all time.

Except it didn’t. Schumacher retired at the end of that season – although he would return with Mercedes for three further (rather fruitless) campaigns – having laid down the gauntlet safe in the knowledge that few, if any, would ever match, let alone topple, his records.

Lewis Hamilton arrived on the grand prix grid just a year later and, despite a few rocky years toward the end of his McLaren career, has enjoyed the most dominant period in the championship’s history since joining the Mercedes F1 Team, recording seven world titles, 103 victories and 103 pole positions so far.

Those are scary numbers. Especially when you consider that two of F1’s other greats, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, hold a combined total of 92 wins between them, despite their total domination during the late 1980s-early 1990s.

Hamilton’s tally is equivalent to winning every single race for pretty much five full world championship seasons. It’s unthinkable when you put it like that. But that’s the sheer measure of his success.

So, have we this time seen the definitive F1 record-breaker? Can anybody really step up to match those immense numbers once Hamilton hangs up his helmet?

We asked the same question in 2006. And look what happened. The evidence is there to suggest that even Hamilton’s milestones aren’t unreachable sometime in the future.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 2nd position, and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1st position, arrive in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

On the current grand prix grid, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are the next-most successful drivers, with 53 and 32 wins apiece, plus four and two world titles respectively. However, aged 34 and 40 – plus with both driving for midfield teams – it’s highly unlikely that either of them will gain much ground on Hamilton.

So, we have to look further. Specifically at Max Verstappen, who embodies the biggest current threat to Hamilton’s place at the top of the record books. Yes, he’s currently 83 wins shy of Hamilton and six world titles behind, but he’s just 24 and driving for a winning team, so fast forward 10 years, if Verstappen wins eight races a season (he won nine last year), and he’s right on the money. And he could well race on for another 16 or so years.

Taking nothing away from Hamilton’s achievements, but the combination that is making Formula 1 records easier to break these days is both age and duration. Formula 1 drivers are starting younger (the entire top-10 youngest drivers ever to start a grand prix are below 20, with Verstappen top at just 17 years 166 days) and the seasons are getting longer.

Look back to Senna and Prost’s all-conquering 1988 campaign with McLaren, where they shared all but one win between them. Yet that year only comprised 16 races in total, with Senna adding eight wins to his tally. We haven’t had a season that short since 2003, and even during the Covid-afflicted 2020 season still managed to run 17 races. This year is set to be the biggest ever, with 23 grands prix on the calendar (if a replacement is found for the Russian GP) and in the future we could easily be looking at campaigns with races numbering into the mid-20s.

The top drivers now enjoy more time at the wheel across their careers, and for more races per season. Verstappen has already notched up 141 grand prix starts, half the number Hamilton has enjoyed, despite being in the sport for a whole eight years less. That naturally gives him a fighting chance of clawing back the deficit. Of course, it’s not all down to Verstappen, as any number of other talented and fortunate drivers could wind up in a similarly dominant manufacturer/car combo that Hamilton has, but as we stand he’s the odds-on favourite to do so.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 2nd position, congratulates Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1st position, in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

The other determining factor could well be rule changes. What would happen if F1 bosses decide they like the sprint race format so much that they’ll go a step further and perhaps adopt double header grands prix for race weekends in a few years’ time? Suddenly drivers get two bites at the cherry with each passing round. That would, rather unjustly, turn the record books on its head. But it’s a possibility given the rate of change we have in grand prix racing at the moment under Liberty’s stewardship.

While he scored a respectable 21 wins during his days at McLaren, Hamilton’s winning run was really sparked by F1’s paradigm shift to V6 turbo hybrid engines in 2014 when Mercedes simply had the perfect formula. A seismic rule change such as that meant that even if you had the best chassis around, if you didn’t have a works Mercedes power unit you were nowhere, as F1 became a straight power struggle during the early years, leaving Hamilton to (mostly) wipe the floor with first Nico Rosberg and then Valtteri Bottas during several years of having just two horses in the race.

Hamilton’s last few titles have been far harder fought, and he’s shown his incredible race craft, raw speed and innate understanding of the Pirelli tyres. Hamilton has unquestionably made the difference for Mercedes on multiple occasions, especially toward the end of last year the field evened out, specifically with Honda reigning in Mercedes’ power advantage, creating that incredible duel with Verstappen. But with yet another huge rules reset this season that could all change again.

Admittedly, the engines this season should still enjoy better parity than during the early V6 days, meaning success is largely going to be determined by whoever has their chassis/aero packages right for this new generation. Will we see one team/driver combo come out of the blocks as dominantly as Mercedes and Hamilton did in 2014? Who knows?

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1st position, celebrates after the race with a Union flag

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

And then there’s 2025, when the engine rules will change again. The FIA and teams have agreed to stick with the V6 hybrid architecture, but there will be a much bigger emphasis on electrification and hybrid systems, with the internal combustion engine likely to play a smaller role in the overall package. That again presents a chance for one brand to get it hugely right, and others to get it hugely wrong.

What Hamilton has achieved across his 16-year F1 career so far is nothing short of remarkable, and he has every chance to extend that superiority this season and next, considering he holds a contract until 2023. And that historic eighth world title is still squarely in his sights. But at the age of 37 the reality is that his time in F1 is drawing to a close, opening the way for others to chase him, just as he did Schumacher.

So, that question again, can anybody ever beat Hamilton’s records? Never say never…

Should Hamilton go on to extend his grand prix wins record, or even secure that history-making eighth world championship this year, Motorsport Tickets can get you there to witness it first-hand. With a host of ticketing options available for all the 2022 grands prix, make sure you visit motorsporttickets.com to find your perfect package.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, arrives in Parc Ferme after securing his 100th pole in F1

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images