Schumacher’s F1 wins record could fall at Ferrari’s 1000th race

Lewis Hamilton remains on course to match and beat Michal Schumacher’s all-time record for most Formula 1 grand prix victories this year.

The Mercedes driver claimed the 86th win of his F1 career in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, his second victory on the bounce, to move into the lead of the drivers’ world championship for the first time this season.

Hamilton’s eighth win in Hungary saw him equal another Michael Schumacher achievement in holding the most victories at the same circuit, something the German achieved at former French Grand Prix venue Magny-Cours.

His latest F1 triumph edged Hamilton ever-closer to Schumacher’s outright record for most victories, placing him just five adrift of the latter’s tally of 91. The Briton has already usurped Schumacher’s long-held pole record (which he matched at Monza in 2017) by 21 thanks to topping qualifying for the 90th time in Hungary.

Should Hamilton go on to win the next four races in a row, he could match Schumacher’s record at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and potentially go on to beat it at Ferrari’s 1000th race at Mugello.

That might sound like a stretch, but when you consider the next two events will be held at Silverstone - where Hamilton has won five times in the last six years - and the sheer superiority of the Mercedes package beneath him, he only really has his teammate Valtteri Bottas to beat, assuming he enjoys 100 percent reliability and remains error-free.

“It’s odd for me because I remember being on the other side of the TV watching Michael win all those races and now I’m in it and I’m getting closer to the amount wins that he had,” Hamilton said after Sunday’s race.

“I’m like ‘geez, I’ve won a lot, and I’ve still not won as much as Michael’. It just reminds me of the dominance and the excellence that he showed for so long. And I can understand the position he was in, I can understand the pressures that he was in. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Mercedes has dominated the delayed 2020 season so far with three wins on the trot, the most comprehensive of which - rather surprisingly - came in Hungary, where Red Bull was expected to challenge.

At the Hungaroring, Mercedes enjoyed the biggest performance advantage it has held since the 2015 season-opener in Melbourne. Hamilton lapped all but four cars; the two Red Bulls, Lance Stroll’s Racing Point and his teammate.

Given the Mercedes has looked unbeatable so far at two very different circuits, could it be an ominous sign for things to come?

Hamilton has never before won more than five races on the spin in his F1 career. His run of five victories on the bounce came back in 2014 between the Italian and United States Grands Prix.

With a five-point advantage over Bottas in the standings, Hamilton also remains on course in his quest to also draw level with Schumacher’s record of seven world titles, which he will achieve if he prevails to the title once again this year.

10 races have so far been confirmed on the 2020 calendar. Following a double-header at Silverstone on August 2 and August 9, F1 heads to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix on August 16. 

After a week break, the season will continue with a third triple-header which will kick off with the Belgian Grand Prix on August 30, before the Italian Grand Prix and Tuscan Grand Prix are then held on September 6 and September 13 respectively. 

The Russian Grand Prix at Sochi on September 27 is the 10th and latest round to be confirmed on the revised calendar.