Lewis Hamilton has not won 8 WDC titles. Although he was close to winning his 8th. A lot of fans out there have been spreading false rumors. Here is what you should know regarding Hamilton’s Championships.
Lewis Hamilton started his career strong. He made his debut with McLaren and finished in 2nd place in his rookie year, right behind Kimi Raikkonen. He was almost immediately considered a future champion of Formula 1. But at the time, No one could imagine the number of records he would go on to break.
Lewis Hamilton’s controversial first World Championship with McLaren
The 2008 season, saw Lewis Hamilton fighting for the Championship with Felipe Massa from Ferrari. The battle was close throughout the season. During the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Felipe Massa had an incident in the pit lane, costing him the race. This incident helped tipped the scales in Hamilton’s favor.
An investigation by the FIA ruled that the incident that had caused the safety car was scripted by the Renault team to help Fernando Alonso win the race. This Controversy is famously called Crashgate and has become a talking point after Felipa Massa considered filing a lawsuit in 2023.
Before the final Grand Prix, Hamilton was leading the Championship by 7 points. This meant that for Massa to win the Championship, he had to win the race, with Hamilton finishing in 6th place or lower. Massa took pole position for the race with Hamilton in 4th place. However, the race saw Hamilton run wide on lap 69.
This saw him drop to 6th place. Miraculously, on the last lap of the race, Timo Glock, who was running in 4th position, lost grip and went wide. This saw Hamilton take 5th place and win the Championship by just 1 point.
The 2021 Championship Controversy
The 2021 Championship saw another controversy concerning Hamilton. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had been fighting for the Championship during the entire season. They had multiple clashes during the season. Going into the last race, both drivers were level on points. At this point whoever finished ahead of the other with points, will take the Championship.
The opening lap of the race saw Hamilton take the lead. He had built a good lead toward the second half of the season. But coming close to the end of the race, Nicholas Latifi had an incident that brought out the safety car with 5 laps to go.
The safety car resulted in Max Verstappen right behind Hamilton with fresher tires. However, Mercedes said there was not enough time for the race officials to complete the safety car procedures before the race ended. But FIA Race Director, Michael Masi, ended the safety car without following the proper procedures. This saw Max Verstappen take the title on the last lap.
The controversy continued for months. An investigation by the FIA proved that the proper procedures were not followed. Michael Masi was then removed from the position of FIA Race Director. However, Verstappen still retained the Championship. So Lewis Hamilton is still only a 7-time World Champion.
Who has won more WDC titles: Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher?
Both Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have 7 WDCs. The table below shows the stats of the 2 champions.
Stats | Michael Schumacher | Lewis Hamilton |
---|---|---|
Races | 308 | 310 |
Wins | 91 | 103 |
Podiums | 155 | 191 |
Points | 1490* | 4405.5 |
Championships | 7 | 7 |
Based on the table above, Hamilton has more wins and podiums than Schumacher. Although it seems like Hamilton has a lot more points compared to Schumacher, the scoring system was lower during most of Michael Schumacher’s time. If the points were transferred to the current scoring system, it would be more than 3000 points but doubtful if it would be more than Hamilton.