Love him or hate him, it is impossible to deny the fact that Lewis Hamilton’s first 199 Formula One starts have shown how historically great of a driver he is.
Lewis Hamilton, 32, is set to make his 200th career Formula One start on Sunday, August 27th in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Whether you like him as a driver or not is immaterial when it comes to appreciating his greatness over the course of his first 199 starts in the series.
Over the first 199 starts of his career, he has fewer wins than just one other driver through 199 starts. Through 199 races, Hamilton has 57 victories, which is second to only the win total of Michael Schumacher, who many would consider the greatest Formula One driver of all-time. Schumacher had 74 victories through 199 races.
In fact, Hamilton’s win total through 199 races is smaller than just one other driver’s career win total. It is second to Schumacher’s 91 career victories in 306 races, a race total that is tied for 2nd of all-time. And Hamilton’s race total is 199, which doesn’t even rank in the top 10 of all-time yet. Hamilton’s win percentage of 28.64% through 199 races is second only to Schumacher’s 29.55% among drivers who have started as many or more races than Hamilton has.
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Through 199 races, Hamilton’s total of 67 poles is higher than every other driver’s through 199 races, including Schumacher’s total of 58. As far as careers go, Hamilton needs just one more pole to tie Schumacher for the all-time record. Yet Hamilton has started 107 fewer races than Schumacher. Hamilton’s pole percentage of 33.67% is higher than all other drivers who have started as many or more races than he has, including Schumacher, whose pole percentage was 22.08%.
Hamilton has finished on the podium 110 times in 199 races, a total that is unsurprisingly second to only Schumacher’s total of 126 podium finishes through 199 races. It is also unsurprisingly second to only Schumacher’s total of 155 career podium finishes. Hamilton’s podium finish percentage of 55.28% is higher than all other drivers who have started as many or more races than he has, including Schumacher, whose podium finish percentage was 50.32%.
The only notable statistic that Hamilton has that doesn’t match up to Schumacher’s through 199 races is championships. Schumacher won six championships through his first 199 starts, while Hamilton won three. Three is still a lot, as it is tied for the 5th highest total of all-time, and given the fact that he is still 32 years old, he could add to that total before he retires.
Regardless of how you feel about Hamilton, one thing is undeniable. He is one of the greatest drivers Formula One has ever seen, and it would appear as though he is just going to get better and better as his career goes on. While Schumacher, who ended up winning a record seven championships, is really the undisputed greatest Formula One driver of all-time, Hamilton could make that debate interesting by the time he retires.
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