Five-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is still pursuing the extension of an all-time record that he has held since the 2016 season.
Since earning his ninth victory of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season in the season’s 17th race, the Japanese Grand Prix, newly crowned five-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport has been pursuing the extension of an all-time record that he has held since the 2016 season.
Before the 2014 season, which was the season during which the 33-year-old Briton won his second Formula 1 championship, just two drivers had won more than 10 races in a single season, and they had combined to do so on four occasions.
These two drivers, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, each recorded one season during which they won 11 races and another season during which they won 13 races prior to the 2014 season.
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Schumacher’s 11-win season came in the 2002 season, the season that resulted in him winning the fifth of his seven championships, and his 13-win season and came in the 2004 season, the season that resulted in him winning the seventh of his seven championships.
Vettel’s 11-win season came in the 2011 season, the season that resulted in him winning the second of the four championships that he has earned so far in his career, which is still active, and his 13-win season came in the 2013 season, the season that resulted in him winning his the fourth of the four championships that he has racked up thus far. He currently drives for Scuderia Ferrari.
Hamilton ended up becoming the third driver in Formula 1 history to win at least 10 races in a single season when he recorded 11 victories in the 2014 season. He ended up tying the all-time record set by Schumacher and Vettel with two 10-win seasons when he won 10 races in the 2015 season en route to winning his third career championship.
While it was teammate Nico Rosberg who won the 2016 championship, Hamilton still won 10 races throughout the season, giving him his third 10-win season and giving him the all-time 10-win season record of three.
With three races remaining in the 2017 season, Hamilton had earned nine victories. However, he was unable to secure his 10th victory in any of the season’s final three races, which would have given him his fourth season of at least 10 victories, meaning he would have recorded twice as many 10-win seasons as the only other two drivers who have recorded any.
Two races have now passed since Hamilton earned his ninth victory of the 2018 season in the Japanese Grand Prix, and he did not win either of those two races. There are now just two races remaining on this year’s schedule in which he can potentially earn his 10th victory of the season and extend his all-time 10-win season record to four.
These two races are the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Hamilton won the Brazilian Grand Prix in the 2016 season, and he is a three-time winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His most recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix victory came in the 2016 season.
Will Lewis Hamilton end the 2018 Formula 1 season with at least 10 victories? If so, which of the remaining two races on this year’s schedule will he win? If not, will he ever secure his fourth career 10-win season, and if so, when will he pull it off?