Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Formula One: Jenson Button believes Lewis Hamilton can reach Michael Schumacher’s championship record

By Asher Fair

MONTE CARLO, MONACO - MAY 23: Lewis Hamilton (R) of Great Britain and McLaren talks with Michael Schumacher (L) of Germany and Mercedes GP at the drivers press conference during previews to the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo Circuit on May 23, 2012 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
MONTE CARLO, MONACO - MAY 23: Lewis Hamilton (R) of Great Britain and McLaren talks with Michael Schumacher (L) of Germany and Mercedes GP at the drivers press conference during previews to the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monte Carlo Circuit on May 23, 2012 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Former Formula One driver Jenson Button believes that Lewis Hamilton can catch Michael Schumacher’s championship record of seven before his career ends.

2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button has been in the news a lot lately. He recently ruled out a potential career in IndyCar by saying he was too scared to drive in the cars, and he also referred to his former McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton, a three-time Formula One world champion himself, as “weird” in his new book Life at the Limit.

Now Button is in the news for more comments, but these comments are a bit more positive from an overall standpoint than the comments he made public earlier this week. The 15-time Formula One race winner said that Lewis Hamilton has a legitimate chance to pass Michael Schumacher on the all-time Formula One championships list.

Schumacher has been the all-time leader in Formula One championships since he won the title for the sixth time back in the 2003 season for his fourth championship in a row just a year after he tied Juan Manuel Fangio for the all-time record with five titles. He ended his career with seven championships in the sport.

More from Formula One

The next closest driver to Schumacher in career Formula One championships is Fangio, who won five titles in a seven-year span from 1951 to 1957. Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel trail Schumacher and Fangio with four titles each, and then Lewis Hamilton sits in a 5th place tie with five other drivers with three career Formula One championships.

However, Hamilton, 32, is poised to win this season’s championship to put himself in a position where he trails only Schumacher and Fangio in career titles. He leads the standings by 59 points over Vettel with just four races to go this season, meaning it would take a miracle for someone other than him to win it.

Here is what Button said, word for word.

"“When you look at the facts and the stats, [Lewis Hamilton]’s out-qualified Michael [Schumacher], but in terms of world championships, he’s got a little way to go. We can honestly say he’s got a very good chance of winning this year and I hope he does because last year was a very tough year for him in terms of being very unlucky.”“Michael is still the greatest when you look at the outright results, but if Lewis stays in the sport and if Mercedes stay as competitive, you could see him getting close to winning seven world championships, but only time will tell.”"

Next: Which drivers will drive for Mercedes and Ferrari in 2019?

Lewis Hamilton can get one step closer to making Jenson Button’s prediction correct in as little as a few days, as there are possible scenarios that involve Hamilton clinching his fourth career Formula One championship in this weekend’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Catch the race live on NBC at 3:00 PM ET on Sunday, October 22nd, 2017.

Home/Formula One