Active 7-time champions have one unfortunate thing in common
By Asher Fair
Both active seven-time champions in NASCAR and F1, Jimmie Johnson and Lewis Hamilton, were sidelined at some point in 2020 with COVID-19.
COVID-19 has shaken the world to its core this year, and despite the fact that most sports have been able to carry on in about as normal a manner as humanly possible (relative to the rest of the world, that is), the virus has had a huge impact on the world of sport as well.
The world of motorsport is no exception, and it serves as a reminder that this virus can infect absolutely anybody when you least expect it to.
Combined, NASCAR and Formula 1 have five seven-time champions all-time. NASCAR has Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson while F1 has Michael Schumacher and now Lewis Hamilton.
Of those five drivers, two are active.
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Yes, Johnson did retire after the 2020 Cup Series season, but he was a full-time driver throughout the year for the 19th season in a row, so for the sake of this article, we’ll classify him as “active” since he still hasn’t yet not been a full-time driver since 2001.
Hamilton, meanwhile, is in his 14th season of F1 competition and clinched his record-tying seventh world title in mid-November, nearly four years to the day after Johnson won his seventh Cup title.
Unfortunately, both Johnson and Hamilton were sidelined with COVID-19 at some point this year.
Johnson entered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race weekend riding a streak of 663 consecutive starts, which ranked fifth (now ranks sixth) on the all-time consecutive starts list. He had never missed a race since becoming a full-time driver in 2002.
But he was forced to miss what could be the final race on the oval after testing positive for COVID-19.
Hamilton, meanwhile, entered the second Bahrain International Circuit race weekend riding a streak of 265 consecutive starts, which was an all-time record by nearly three whole seasons (59 starts). He had also never missed a race since becoming a full-time driver in 2007.
But he was forced to miss the first ever race at the track’s outer layout.
And it’s not like drivers were testing positive like crazy throughout the year, either. The only other drivers to miss time with COVID-19 in the Cup Series and F1 have been Austin Dillon, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll. They have a combined four career victories (three for Dillon, one in 2020, and a career-first for Perez in 2020).
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But unfortunately neither one of the two active seven-time champions managed to complete the full 2020 season due to the virus. There is still hope that Hamilton will return for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit this Sunday, December 13.