F1 chief Ross Brawn believes that if Lewis Hamilton continues his level of performance into 2020 he will deserve to match Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven world championships, and potentially overtake the German’s race win record.
Hamilton won the title in 2019 which took him to six in his career, one behind Schumacher, who also holds the record for the most Formula 1 races won with 91. The Mercedes driver is second in the all-time list on 84, so has the record in his sights in 2020.
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The Brit’s detractors usually point to the fact he has had by far the best car over the past few years, but Brawn, who previously worked with Schumacher at Ferrari, will take nothing away from him if his former colleague and friend’s records are broken.
"It's a bit frustrating for me because it's a record Michael holds. But if he [Hamilton] continues like this, he will deserve the seventh title,” he told Bild.
“If he wins it won't be because of luck, but because he's a fantastic driver.”
Brawn added that it is still difficult to compare the two because they are from different eras which featured differing cars and regulations.
"We're talking about completely different periods and cars. And they have completely different personalities,” he added.
“Lewis has an incredible level of professionalism and he works hard, but Michael had an understanding of the details of his car that Lewis no longer needs these days.”
Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes runs out at the end of the 2020 F1 season, in a winter break which comes before the biggest regulation change in the history of the sport ahead of 2021.
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