Lewis Hamilton gets former mate’s backing to surpass Schumacher

Lewis Hamilton won his fifth driver’s championship in Mexico yesterday, becoming only the third man in F1 history to reach that milestone, matching Juan Manuel Fangio and is just two short of Michael Schumacher’s record of seven. And Nico Rosberg believes he can do it.

“He can seriously go for Schumacher’s records now. He’s got two more years on the contract, and Schumi is only two titles away, 20 race wins away, even that’s possible in two years,” said the 2016 champion, in a congratulatory message on his YouTube channel.

“It’s amazing. He can really try to become statistically the best of all-time, which is unreal, but it is a possibility, and I’m sure he’s going to be motivated by that.”

Though he wrapped up the title yesterday, the race itself was not so great for Lewis Hamilton as he finished down in fourth place, with his tyres being degraded badly throughout the race. He himself deemed it horrible.

However, Rosberg told it as it was- that it did not matter in the end. “Today’s race was not the best way to finish the season for Mercedes in a race like that, but whatever, it doesn’t matter – who cares,” he said.

“The big picture counts. You all really deserve it, phenomenal job, especially this year because Ferrari, on average, maybe even had the better car. To go with such pressure, to come so strong through the middle part of the season, develop the car so strong, amazing effort.”

Lewis Hamilton has rightly gained a lot of plaudits for his phenomenal effort, especially after a difficult start to the season, when he was unable to win until the fourth race in Azerbaijan, which itself come in fortuitous circumstances.

The occasion was made even more special for the Brit, as he also revealed that he was dealing with his grandfather’s death in the days leading upto the crucial Mexico Grand Prix. It shows the man’s mental strength and his ability to rise above it time and again.