Formula One: We are in a historic era in the history of the sport
By Asher Fair
Formula One is currently in the midst of one of the most historic eras in the history of the sport. How long will this historic era last?
Even the careers of the greatest athletes of all-time in a particular sport don’t last forever. Maybe those career typically last longer than average, but the time those athletes spend competing on a high level is really never that much longer than the time the average athlete spends competing. This is the case in Formula One.
We are in the midst of an era that has featured the careers of not one but two the greatest drivers in the history of the sport, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. This kind of an era is something that is extremely rare in any sport, much less Formula One.
In fact, you could even make a case that three of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport are driving right now if you include 36-year-old Fernando Alonso, who has two career championships to his name along with 32 victories, which puts him in 6th place on the all-time wins list.
Hamilton, 32, has driven full-time in Formula One for the last 11 seasons. In those 11 seasons, he has racked up 62 career victories and four championships. His 62 victories put him in 2nd place on the all-time wins list behind only Michael Schumacher’s record mark of 91 wins.
Hamilton’s four championships put him in a 3rd place tie on the all-time titles list behind only Schumacher’s record mark of seven and Juan Manuel Fangio’s impressive mark of five. A total of 40 of Hamilton’s 62 wins and three of his four championships have come in the last four seasons.
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Vettel, 30, has driven full-time in Formula One for the last 10 seasons. In those 10 seasons, he has racked up 47 career victories and four championships. His 47 victories put him in 4th place on the all-time wins list, and he sits just four wins behind Alain Prost in 3rd on the list. His four championships put him in a 3rd place tie on the all-time titles list along with Hamilton and Prost.
Vettel reached his mark of four career championships by the end of his sixth career season after he won four straight titles from the 2010 season to the 2013 season. Winning four championships by the age of 26 had never been done before in Formula One history, much less winning four in a row. By the time he had secured his fourth title, he had already won 39 career races, of which 34 came during the four consecutive seasons in which he won championships.
So for each of the last 10 years, we have had the chance to watch two of the greatest drivers, arguably two of the top three, in the history of the sport compete against one another. But with Hamilton having made remarks about possibly retiring, how much longer will this historic era last?
It may last at least another three years. Hamilton recently stated that he plans to stay in the sport for at least three more years, and Vettel also recently stated that he has no plan to retire anytime soon. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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Tying in one of my recent articles about appreciating the great drivers in motorsports today as opposed to resenting them, it is important that we don’t let this era go by too quickly. Whether you’re a fan of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel or neither, don’t waste this era by resenting them. This era is set to continue with the 2018 season when it begins on Sunday, March 25th with the Australian Grand Prix, a race won by Vettel in 2017.