Formula One: No, it’s not ridiculous to talk about Lewis Hamilton winning 7 championships

Four-time Formula One champion Alain Prost recently said that it is ridiculous to talk about fellow four-time champion Lewis Hamilton winning seven championships. However, it isn’t.

Lewis Hamilton, 32, secured his fourth career Formula One championship last Sunday in the Mexican Grand Prix, the 18th race of the 20-race 2017 season, by finishing in 9th place in the race.

While the other championship contender, Sebastian Vettel, who has been a four-time champion since the 2013 season, finished the race in 4th place, which was five positions higher than Hamilton’s result, Vettel was unable to stay within 49 points of Hamilton heading into the penultimate race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, thus securing Hamilton the title.

However, despite the fact that Hamilton now trails only Michael Schumacher, who won seven Formula One titles, and Juan Manuel Fangio, who won five, on the all-time championships list, four-time champion Alain Prost claims that it is “ridiculous” to start talking about Hamilton possibly winning seven championships to tie Schumacher’s record.

Here is what Prost said.

"“When you have four titles, the fifth is a just too far off. You’re living Grand Prix after Grand Prix. Practice, qualifying, the race…It wouldn’t be good for a driver to think any other way. So to talk about seven titles is ridiculous.”"

While he did go on to compliment Hamilton on what he has been able to accomplish thus far in his 11-year Formula One career, the fact remains that he believes talk of Hamilton winning seven career championships to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time record is “ridiculous”.

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That is simply not the case.

At the start of the eighth season of his Formula One career, Lewis Hamilton was a one-time champion, and at the time, he had won that championship six years ago in the 2008 season. Now here we are not even four years later, and Hamilton is a four-time champion trailing only Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio on the all-time championships list, and he is still only 32 years old.

Hamilton is undoubtedly still in his prime. In fact, if he wins one more race this season, he will have won double-digit races in each of the last four years, something that no driver has ever even done two seasons in a row. He is also already the all-time pole record holder with 72 poles and counting, and he trails only Schumacher, who won 91 races, on the all-time wins list with 62 victories.

So to say that talk about Lewis Hamilton winning seven championships is “ridiculous” is what is actually ridiculous. Given his abundant success in recent years, it honestly would not make sense for people not to be talking about him potentially winning seven championships, if not more.

Next: Looking back at Lewis Hamilton's record-setting accomplishment

Just three years ago in 2014, Lewis Hamilton had won one career Formula One championship and had never had a season during which he won double-digit races. Now in the blink of an eye, he is tied for 3rd on the all-time championships list with a great chance of winning double-digit races for the fourth straight season, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. So how is talk of him winning seven championships ridiculous? I honestly have no idea.