Four-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is still looking to extend a notable all-time record that he has held since he won the 2016 season finale.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton earned his fourth consecutive victory and his sixth victory in the last seven Formula 1 races in the Japanese Grand Prix, which took place just over two weeks ago at Suzuka Circuit.
Hamilton’s victory in the 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.609-mile (5.807-kilometer) Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan gave him nine victories with four races remaining in the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season.
As a result, the 33-year-old four-time Formula 1 champion had a chance to extend an all-time record that he has held since he won the 2016 season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in this past Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.
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However, with his third place finish in the 56-lap race around the 20-turn, 3.427-mile (5.513-kilometer) Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which was his worst finish since he was forced to retire with a fuel pressure issue in the Austrian Grand Prix back in early July, Hamilton was unable to extend this record.
This record is Hamilton’s 10-win season total. His 11 victories in the 2014 season, the season during which he won his second career championship, his 10 victories in the 2015 season, the season during which he won his third career championship, and his 10 victories in the 2016 season gave him the all-time record for the most 10-win seasons in Formula 1 history with three.
Entering the 2014 season, there had only been four 10-win seasons by any Formula 1 drivers in the sport’s history. Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher recorded two of these seasons while four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who still drives for Scuderia Ferrari, also recorded two of them.
Schumacher won 11 races in the 2002 season before going on to win 13 races in the 2004 season. Nearly mirroring his fellow German, Vettel won 11 races in the 2011 season before going on to win 13 races two seasons later in the 2013 season.
One more victory for Hamilton in any of the final three races of the 2018 season, which are the Mexican Grand Prix, the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, would give him his fourth career season with at least 10 victories.
If Hamilton wins at least one of these three races, half of the 10-win seasons that will have taken place throughout Formula 1 history will have been earned by him, and his 10-win season total of four will be twice as large as the 10-win season totals of the only other two drivers who have ever earned at least 10 victories in a single season.
Will Lewis Hamilton end the 2018 Formula 1 season with at least 10 victories? If so, which one or more of the remaining three races on the schedule will he win?