Lewis Hamilton Photo: VCG

British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton made history in Germany last week, matching the exploits of the greatest driver in the sport.

Hamilton, 35, reached 91 career wins to equal the record set by Michael Schumacher when the German triumphed at the Shanghai Grand Prix on October 1, 2005.

"I don't think you should knock anybody for the way they do things," the Briton said after his win in Schumacher's native Germany.

After the race he was presented with one of Schumacher's helmets by the great's son Mick, an F1 hopeful himself.

"I get knocked by many people, particularly older drivers. Maybe one day they will get over it, but I have so much respect for the past legends, even those who continue to talk negatively about me all the time. I still hold them in high regard. It was a different time in history. It was incredibly tough for them," Hamilton said.

"There is always talk in sport about who is the greatest, past and present, but it is impossible to compare. It is not important to me."

"In 20 years' time when I am looking back, I can promise you this, I will not be talking down any young driver who is coming through and succeeding," Hamilton added. 

"Because a responsibility as an older driver is to shine the light as bright as possible and encourage those."

Hamilton said he had immediately called his father after the record-equaling win.

"My dad and I have never been so close," Hamilton said. "It is remarkable and makes me so much happier that we talk a lot, which I never thought we would do.

"It has been an emotional rollercoaster and it was so hard, for my dad. I can only try to imagine at his age how it was mentally, how it was to struggle with work, I can only try to comprehend how difficult that was. We talk about it a lot and we were there together through it all."

Upstart driver

The Briton won his first race in the 2007 season, finishing top of the podium in Canada. A year later he lifted his first driver's championship.

That was the year that Schumacher noted that the upstart might become the face of the sport and beat his record - one that seemed unsurpassable when it was set.

"Records are there to be broken," Schumacher said at the time.

Hamilton has now enjoyed 14 years at the peak of the sport but has not lost any of his humility.

He thanked Mercedes race team head Stephen Lord after the race, when Lord picked up the constructor's trophy for another Mercedes win.

"I just think about all the people that have helped me get to this place," the British driver said after his win. 

"Stevo has been with me every single race in F1, he moved with me from McLaren to Mercedes and has been with me for every single one of those 91 wins. A journey you go on with so many people is what really matters and what counts."

The rest of the sport was as quick to heap the praise on Hamilton.

Australia's Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo shared a podium with Hamilton in Germany, finishing third to the champion.

"Ninety-one races is nearly five years' worth of races," he said. 

"That puts it in perspective, how much success Lewis has had. To do it week in, week out and year on year, to keep showing that level of consistency at the front is not easy," Ricciardo said.

Hamilton was not done with turning the spotlight away from himself, particularly to the man whose record he equaled.

"It is hard for people to understand how hard it was for him to have got those 91 wins," Hamilton said of Schumacher, who has been out of the public eye since a skiing accident in 2013.

"To deliver weekend in and out and year on year to stay in shape. I understand that now more than ever and it doesn't get easier - from the first win to the 91st it has been a long, hard run."

'Getting better every year'

Again, there was to be more praise for the British driver, who is expected to both surpass Schumacher's record and take yet another driver's championship this year. If anything he appears to be getting better with age.

That was the sentiment of his boss at Mercedes, Tito Wolff, in the aftermath of the win at the Nurburgring circuit.

"What is most impressive is that somebody that is performing on that level is still capable of getting better every year," Wolff said of a driver who has made the category his own over the last six seasons. 

"Getting better as a person, outside the car and inside the car. It is truly inspiring."

The 35-year-old champion - who has championed veganism and social justice causes such as the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years - appears to not want to rest on his many laurels.

 "I love the challenge," Hamilton said after his win. "I love the sport, the atmosphere, it's going to be difficult to let it go. Whilst I am older than these guys I'm as young as them in spirit."

"I grew up watching Michael win all those Grands Prix and I couldn't even fathom equaling him," he added of his hero after matching his win record. 

"Getting to F1 was the first step of the dream but Michael was just so far ahead, it's beyond my wildest dreams to be here today having equaled him. I feel really humbled by the moment."

Wolff was not done with his praise. 

"It is unbelievable that Lewis has reached those 91 wins," the Mercedes man said. "For me Michael is an icon and equaling that record is almost surreal."

Hamilton can set a new bar at the next Grand Prix in Portugal on October 25. A win for Hamilton at Estoril circuit would make him the greatest driver in the history of the sport.
Newspaper headline: Record racer