Hamilton never imagined getting “anywhere near” Schumacher’s F1 win record

Lewis Hamilton says he never imagined getting “anywhere near” Michael Schumacher’s Formula 1 record for most victories after taking his 91st win at the Eifel Grand Prix.

After being beaten to pole position by Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton fought back to pass the Finn and go on to record his seventh victory of the season in Germany ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as Bottas retired with engine trouble.

Hamilton’s win moved him level with Schumacher on 91 grand prix victories to equal a record that had stood unrivalled since the German claimed his final victory at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

Hamilton was presented with one of the seven-time world champion’s race helmets by his son, Mick Schumacher, after the race.

“I’m honoured, I don’t even know what to say,” Hamilton said.

“When you grow up watching someone and you generally idolise them, really just in terms of the quality of driver they are, but also what they’re able to continuously do year on year, race on race, week on week, with their team.

“Just seeing his dominance for so long, I don’t think anyone, especially me, didn’t imagine that I’d be anywhere near Michael in terms of records.

“So, it’s an incredible honour and it’s going to take some time to get used to.

“Honestly as I came into the pit-lane that’s only when I realised, I hadn’t even computed it when I crossed the line,” he added.

“I couldn’t have done it without this incredible team pushing behind me and giving it their everything. A very big thank you and a huge respect to Michael.”

Speaking in the FIA press conference, Hamilton admitted the feat had not yet sunk in.

"It’s not sunk in, that’s for sure," he explained. "I don’t know how it is for other drivers when they have these wins it takes time to analyse, realise what it actually means.

"Like all of us I grew up watching Michael win all those grands prix and I couldn’t even have fathomed equalling him. Getting to F1 was the first step of the dream, emulating Ayrton, but Michael was so far ahead.

"It’s beyond my wildest dreams to be here today and I feel really humbled by the moment and the opportunity I was given when I was 13, by Mercedes to join this team, feel proud to have joined them and brought this record to Mercedes, hope we have more records to break and make – they know it’s a good investment hopefully!"