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Lewis Hamilton says he is wondering when his performance will “tip over” the edge and diminish, having claimed Formula 1’s win record and edging towards a seventh title at 35.
Hamilton scored his 92nd victory in F1 in Portugal last weekend and could wrap up a Michael Schumacher-equalling seventh championship in just two races’ time.
He is yet to agree a new Mercedes deal committing him to F1 beyond this season but has indicated he will continue racing, and a new three-year agreement in line with his previous contracts would keep him in F1 until he is 38.
Hamilton has been tipped to score “well over 100 wins” in his career by rival Max Verstappen and an eighth title would seem realistic in 2021 given Mercedes remains the class of the field and Hamilton appears at the top of his game.
Asked how far he can raise the bar, Hamilton said it “depends how much we want it” and indicated he will be motivated by on-track and off-track pursuits with his team.
“Going by our history together, just the way we work, we don’t sit back on our results, we keep working, we keep elevating,” said Hamilton.
“Every race feels like the first one. I don’t know how that’s possible after all these races but for me it does, just as challenging as the first, and I think there is a lot more for us to do.
“Especially as we’re in this crazy time of the pandemic. We’re in a crazy time with having to also utilise our position as a business, as a leader in the business for inclusivity, for diversity, there’s a lot of work to do. So, that keeps me inspired.
“My team-mates who are continuously growing, my fans who are continuously learning through this process with us all, and our sport that is slowly changing, it’s a real special time.
“I definitely sometimes wonder… jeez, I’m 35 years old. I still feel physically strong but you still wonder, when is it going to tip over and lose performance?
“It’s not yet.”
Hamilton is the second-oldest driver in F1, six years Kimi Raikkonen’s junior. Next season Fernando Alonso will return, starting the 2021 season at the age of 39.
Raikkonen won a lot of plaudits at Algarve last weekend for his stunning opening lap charge, which led Verstappen and Hamilton to acknowledge that elite performance in F1 is still possible even past the age of 40.
The Alfa Romeo driver is one of only two drivers from this century in the top 25 oldest race winners, as he won the 2018 United States Grand Prix the day after his 39th birthday. Schumacher was 37 years, eight months and 28 days when he scored the last of his 91 wins in 2006.
Hamilton can take more inspiration for longevity from the oldest drivers to have scored pole positions as Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Giancarlo Fisichella join Raikkonen and Schumacher inside the top 25 oldest polesitters in F1.
More importantly, though, Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says Hamilton is getting stronger – not even plateauing.
“He doesn’t show any signs of giving up or slowing down or anything, so I suspect he’s going to go on and hit some more milestones,” said Shovlin of Hamilton’s win record.
“Just an incredible achievement, and the way that he works, the way that he’s sort of driven to win, and driven to improve to be honest, and he improves by putting a lot of hours in outside of the car, trying to learn everything from every difficult day that he ever has and when you see how he works, it’s almost not surprising that he’s achieved it.”
The Portuguese GP weekend was an example of Hamilton’s tenacity and desire to win even as the records mount and his seventh championship edges ever closer.
He had been outperformed by team-mate Valtteri Bottas through practice but scored pole position then recovered from losing the lead early on to win by the biggest margin in F1 since 2016.
It led some to question whether Hamilton is sandbagging through practice but when asked by The Race to explain how he turns an early-weekend deficit into poles and victories, Hamilton insisted “I don’t lie, I don’t have anything to hide, I don’t hold anything back”.
“It’s like building a wall: you put one brick, the next, the next,” he said. “And you just continue to improve throughout.
“There’s a lot of work that goes in the background, trying to fine-tune, get the right perfect setting for the brake bias and the diff and how you attack each corner.
“It just doesn’t come easy, so I’ve been pushing all weekend. I’ve been really happy with my performances through practice but he [Bottas] has always been at the top and so I really, really had to just continue to dig and continue to believe that I could eventually get there.
“Coming across the line and getting the pole, it was a great feeling because I really had to work my socks off for it.”
For Hamilton to remain on top in F1 he will need Mercedes to continue its incredible record, as his team stands on the brink of securing an unprecedented seventh constructors’ title in a row.
Hamilton has been credited as a key driving force behind Mercedes maintaining its title-winning form and team boss Toto Wolff said its next motivation would be to work out how to “maintain these levels of performance” after a dominant 2020 season.
“Everything we do from now on will be important for next year and also setting the base, the roots for the 2022 regulations,” said Wolff.
“So, it’s an extremely challenging situation that I take contentment in, trying to help structure our capability in a way that we can stay where we are, whilst obviously staying humble.
“And not allowing one millimetre of sense of entitlement.”
