Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton’s win ends massive 354-race streak
By Asher Fair
Lewis Hamilton’s Portuguese Grand Prix victory ended a 354-race streak of Michael Schumacher atop the all-time Formula 1 wins list.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton did what he usually does on Sunday and dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix at Algarve International Circuit, giving him eight victories through the first 12 races of the 17-race 2020 Formula 1 season.
Hamilton stared this 66-lap race around the 15-turn, 2.91-mile (4.683-kilometer) road course in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal from the pole position and got off to a slow start, dropping to third place behind teammate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr., but he worked his way back up to the lead and won by 25.592 seconds over Bottas in second.
In doing so, he ended a streak that had lasted for more than one-third of the sport’s history, which includes 1,030 races and dates back to 1950 with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit.
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The six-time world champion’s victory was the 92nd victory of his Formula 1 career, which made him the winningest driver in the history of the sport. He had just tied seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher top the all-time wins list with his 91st victory in the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring two weeks earlier.
Now Hamilton stands alone atop this list, and that ends a 354-race streak for Schumacher. Schumacher ascended to the top of this list back on Sunday, August 19, 2001 when he tied Alain Prost at the top of it. At that point, the all-time wins record was 51 victories.
Over the next five-plus seasons, Schumacher added 40 more victories to his win total to open up a huge gap over everybody else.
One year after Schumacher secured his 91st and final Formula 1 victory, Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut, and after 262 starts he now owns the all-time wins record, a record which is poised to continue to grow and likely won’t be broken.
Next. Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark
Aside from Schumacher, the driver closest to Hamilton on the all-time Formula 1 wins list is Sebastian Vettel, the four-time world champion who trails Hamilton by 39 victories with 53.