Denny Hamlin Drops a Bombshell on Lewis Hamilton’s Racing Career, Wondering About NASCAR & F1’s “Magic” Championship Number

Formula 1 legend Lewis Hamilton has been in the hunt for an eighth championship to pass the great Michael Schumacher and become the greatest driver in the sport. However, Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s dominance and the car troubles for Mercedes have posed many problems for Hamilton. The misery for the Briton continued during the first race of the 2023 season in Bahrain as Verstappen won yet again while he finished fifth. Recently, NASCAR veteran Denny Hamlin gave a shocking take on Lewis Hamilton’s career. Moreover, he also shared his thoughts on the magical championship number 7 in NASCAR and F1, which no racing driver has been able to surpass.

During the latest episode of the Actions Detrimental podcast, the co-host Jared Allen pointed out that the magic number in the racing world appears to be seven because no racing legend has been able to win an eighth championship neither in NASCAR nor in F1. He suggested that as Red Bull have continued their dominance from last season, Hamilton might never win an eighth championship in Formula 1.

Denny Hamlin offers a stunning take on Hamilton

In the recent iteration of the Actions Detrimental podcast, while talking about the possibility of Lewis Hamilton winning an eighth F1 championship, Denny Hamlin said, “That’s a great point and I’m gonna probably have to say no, he never does. Just because, I think the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull right now just seems like it’s a big one. And I just, you’re not gonna get that figured out in a year. I don’t think.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver felt that the mystery behind the championship number 7 could have something to do with the ‘window’ of a racing career. Hamlin also believed that racing is a combination of a good car and a great driver, and claimed that Lewis Hamilton did not have a good enough car that could put him in a championship-winning position. 

The Toyota driver added, “Lewis’ you would say that it’s maybe barely a little him and mostly the car. I mean, he’s just going against, you know, a car that is clearly faster than his. So, yeah, it’s interesting that seven seems to be the magic number of the greatest of all time in any given sport…”

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Talking about the possibility of Mercedes catching up with Red Bull’s pace this season, Hamlin reckoned that the Silver Arrows had a lot of ground to cover, which is nearly impossible to achieve over the course of a single season. Thus, Denny Hamlin had his doubts about Hamilton’s eighth championship win as he was left fascinated by the relationship between sporting championships and the number seven.

Most championships in NASCAR and F1

In NASCAR, thirty-five different drivers have won at least a single championship. However, the drivers to have won the most (7) championships in the sport are Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jimmie Johnson. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher is tied with Lewis Hamilton with seven F1 championships each.

Do you agree with Denny Hamlin? Will Hamilton win another championship before stepping away from the sport? Let us know in the comments.

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