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Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton’s Japanese Grand Prix win broke an all-time record

By Asher Fair

SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 07: Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 7, 2018 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 07: Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 7, 2018 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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Lewis Hamilton broke an all-time Formula 1 record by winning the 17th race of the 2018 season, the Japanese Grand Prix, at Suzuka Circuit.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton entered the 17th race of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, the Japanese Grand Prix, having earned 48 victories since the start of the 2014 season, which was his second season driving for Mercedes and the first season of the V6 turbo hybrid era.

The four-time Formula 1 champion earned 11 victories in the 2014 season, 10 victories in the 2015 season, 10 victories in the 2016 season and nine victories in the 2016 season, and he had earned eight victories through the first 16 races of the 2018 season.

The 33-year-old Briton went on to dominate the 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.807-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan, as he led all 53 of its laps en route to securing his four consecutive victory and his sixth victory in the last seven races.

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However, it is what Hamilton’s victory in this race meant in the long run that makes it as historically significant as it is. Heading into this race, no driver in Formula 1 history had ever won more than 48 races in a span of five seasons. The only driver who had done so was seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher earned 48 victories from the 2000 season through the 2004 season, and he won the championship in each of the five seasons that took place during this five-year span. He won nine races in the 2000 season, nine races in the 2001 season, 11 races in the 2002 season, six races in the 2003 season and 13 races in the 2004 season.

With his ninth victory of the 2018 season, Hamilton passed Schumacher for the most victories of all-time in a five-year span. He has now earned 49 victories since the start of the 2014 season, which is an all-time record.

Hamilton still has four races to extend this record, and these four races are races at which he has had past success at. The four races that are on the schedule to close out the 2018 season are the United States Grand Prix, the Mexican Grand Prix, the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton is a six-time winner of the United States Grand Prix, and five of his wins in this race have come in seasons during which it has been held at its current host track, Circuit of the Americas. He is also a three-time winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and he earned his lone victories in both the Mexican Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix in the 2016 season.

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Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for passing Michael Schumacher for the most wins in any five-year span in the history of Formula 1. Will he add to his win total before the 2018 season comes to a close? How many wins will he end up with since the 2014 season once the 2018 season is in the books?

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