Hamilton on equalling Schumacher’s record: “My whole life flashed by…”

Hamilton and Schumacher remain tied with the all-time record, although the Mercedes driver can claim an eighth title if he usurps Max Verstappen this year.

Hamilton secured his most recent championship at the 2020 F1 Turkish Grand Prix.

"Honestly, my whole life flashed by," he remembered to the ‘On Purpose’ podcast.

"That last lap in Turkey, my whole life, all the struggles, questioning whether you were going to make it or not, all those doubts, all those fears, kind of flashed through my eyes.

"I came across the line and I was like, 'I did it', and I want the kids out there to know that you can do it too. So that's what I try, every day, just try to be encouraging of kids."

Hamilton won his seventh championship driving a Mercedes kitted out in an iconic black livery, a change from traditional silver, intended as an anti-racism message.

"I've grown very close with Mercedes-Benz and Daimler," he said.

"They've been so open that we changed the car from silver to black in 2020. I said to them: 'The car's been silver forever, it's always been Silver Arrows. Imagine if we change the car to black. Imagine the message we can send’.

"We had the black car for the whole year. We didn't even really talk much about it, we just let it be. And we won with it, that's when I won my seventh world title with that car."