Motorsport

LEWIS HAMILTON is one victory away from equalling Michael Schuamcher’s record of 91 Formula One wins.
The British star, 35, is also likely to match the German’s record seven world titles this season too.

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Hamilton is set to equal Schumacher’s F1 wins tally on 91Credit: Splash News

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Schumacher’s record seven world titles could be equalled this season by HamiltonCredit: AP:Associated Press

Hamilton has already beaten Schumacher’s record for the most podiums and pole positions.
And he starts the Russia Grand Prix in Sochi on pole as he prepares to equal the once-seemingly-untouchable record…
But which of the two F1 legends is the greatest?
Sadly, the two only competed against each other for three seasons in F1 when Schumacher came out of retirement to drive for Mercedes, who were then uncompetitive.

SunSport breaks down the drivers’ skills into five categories to establish who is F1’s No1.
WORK-RATE
Hamilton
The Mercedes man gets a fair chunk of stick for his jet-setting ways and there is a feeling he doesn’t do his homework in the same way as other drivers do.
Wrong. He does and has his notebook that he carries with him that he uses to provide feedback to his engineers.

Score: 8
Schumacher
When Schumacher joined Ferrari he was already well-known for his attention to detail, but after signing for the Italian team he cranked it up to a new level.
Yes, Ferrari did surround him with the best people and a defacto No2 driver, but Schumacher’s work-rate was next level.
Score: 10

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Lewis Hamilton has looked in imperious form this season – particularly in the wetCredit: EPA

OVER A SINGLE LAP
Hamilton
In F1, there is a term that is frequently used that is along the lines of “being able to extract the most from the package”.
To everyone else, that means going as quick as you can… and the best measurement of that is in qualifying.
Hamilton is untouchable over one flying lap, his performances, especially for Mercedes, on a Saturday are mesmerising.
Score: 10
Schumacher
While Schumacher achieved an impressive 68 poles during his F1 career, Hamilton currently sits on 95, and having reached that number on 47 fewer races.
Make no mistake, Schumacher was quick, but Hamilton easily edges this one.
The argument of who had the better car also goes out of the window.
Score: 8

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Hamilton has reached the level of Schumacher – something no one thought possibleCredit: Reuters
DRIVING IN THE WET
Hamilton
Whenever it rains, Hamilton is the favourite.
Since his impressive performance in the wet at Silverstone in 2008 to his bravery in qualifying for this year’s Styrian GP, he always seems to keep it on the black stuff, whatever the weather.
This year’s pole in Austria was particularly impressive, with his Merc boss Toto Wolff hailing the performance as “not from this world”.
Score: 10
Schumacher
Like Hamilton, the German has a reputation for being an excellent wet weather driver.
One race that stands out is the 1995 Belgian GP where he stayed on slicks while most of the other cars pitted for wets.
Despite being slower, Schumacher held off Damon Hill to win the race.
Score: 9

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CALM UNDER PRESSURE
Hamilton
With team radio now regularly played out on TV, fans get an insight into life in the drivers’ cockpits.
For the best part, Hamilton’s comments on tyres are interesting for those studying the lap times.
But while he sometimes sounds flustered, it’s worth remembering he’s travelling at 200mph and pulling G-forces of 5G.
Whatever he says to his team, Hamilton keeps things clean on track and does not resort to dirty tricks.
Score: 10
Schumacher
Without the radio exchanges from Schuamcher’s era, it is difficult to make a direct comparison between their attitudes in the heat of battle.
But there is a clear winner when it comes to gentlemanly conduct when handling the pressure.
Time and again, Schumacher was at the centre of a foul play storm, be it blocking, dangerous moves or even inexplicably stopping on track to halt a qualifying session.
Score: 8

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Hamilton’s consistency race-on-race, season-after-season is mightily impressiveCredit: Getty Images – Getty

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Schumacher is likely to see his record for most F1 wins broken this seasonCredit: EPA
CONSISTENCY
Hamilton
Ah, the old argument about having the best car.
The best car of the season is always defined by who won the title that year.
The best drivers get to drive the best cars.
Currently, the Mercedes is the best car and Hamilton’s consistency there has been staggering.
He’s won 68 of the last 129 GPs.
Score: 10
Schumacher
Schuamcher’s 13 wins out of 18 in his title winning 2004 season is the standout, yet that level of dominance is similar to Hamilton’s six wins in eight for this season.
But when you look at Schumacher’s stats, the results are punctuated by retirements – something Hamilton rarely does.
In fact, Hamilton’s last retirement from a race was over two years ago.
Score: 8
TOTAL SCORE
Hamilton: 48
Schumacher: 43

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LEWIS HAMILTON nearly stuffed it up in Sochi but will start his bid to become F1’s joint-record race winner from pole.
The Brit was made to sweat on a number of occasions as he labelled the dramatic qualifying session as “one of the worst” adding “it was horrible, heart in your mouth the whole way”.

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Lewis Hamilton stormed to pole position as he chases Schumacher’s win recordCredit: AFP

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Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari was taken off on a tow truck after a horror smashCredit: Getty Images – Getty

After rare mistakes, a red flag, a stewards’ investigation and a brilliant recovery, Hamilton was finally allowed to keep his 96th pole position.
He said: “I got the time taken away, then the red flag came out. It was one of the hardest qualifying sessions I can remember having.
“Everything was rushed and there was so much panic.”
The drama happened midway through the session when Hamilton was penalised by the stewards for missing the corner at turn 18 and had his lap time deleted.

Hamilton was prevented from having another crack when his Mercedes team told him to stop for new soft tyres – against his wishes.
And he was plunged further into danger when Sebastian Vettel’s big crash saw qualifying red flagged with a little over two minutes remaining.
With no lap time on the board, Hamilton risked being booted out of qualifying.
And when the session did restart, he almost crashed immediately on cold tyres and only just crossed the line with one second to spare to begin his flying lap.

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His race engineer, the usually composed Pete Bonnington was noticeably anxious as he hurried his driver to cross the line, saying “need to go, need to go…”
Hamilton responded with a lap time that was good enough for fourth and reached Q3 where, in the top 10 shoot-out, he composed himself to dominate.
His first lap was good but his second was even better as he took pole ahead Max Verstappen, who will start second, with an excellent recovery.
Hamilton added: “I calmed myself down and found my centre because I wanted to deliver. I had to deliver on those two laps.
“We are all under immense pressure and I would say experience helps massively in order to help me regain my focus.
“I don’t always get it right but, especially this year, I have been able to center myself and deliver laps when it counts.”
Hamilton was allowed to keep his pole after the race stewards took no further action after an investigation into why he had missed a chicane earlier in the qualifying session.
But says that even though he will start in front, he is on the less durable, soft tyre, and knows he could be leapfrogged by Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas, who lines up in third on the grid.
He said: “It’s nice to be on pole but this probably the worst place to be on pole with the draggier cars this year.
“Undoubtedly I’m most likely to get dragged past. Both the cars I’m racing against are on the medium tyres so it will definitely make it hard to win the race.
“But I’m definitely going to stay positive and try and figure out how I can navigate through and get a good start.”

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