100 Wins for Lewis Hamilton

This morning, September 26, 2021, Lewis Hamilton was able to do something that no other Formula One driver has ever achieved, reaching 100 wins. Hamilton did this in a crazy Sochi Grand Prix that saw him start in fourth and fall back as far as 7th on the opening lap.

In the last six laps, Hamilton was in second behind Lando Norris when it started to rain. Norris had a two-second lead on Hamilton, so Hamilton decided to pit and put on tires that are better suited for rain or intermediates. Leaving pit lane, Hamilton was down 25 seconds with what seemed like not enough laps. However, the weather continued to get worse, and Norris refused to pit to change tires. In the end, his bald tires caused him to slide, of course allowing Hamilton an easy pass, and he was on his way to win 100.

With Hamilton reaching such a milestone, one has to look back at just how extraordinary the achievement is. Before Hamilton, Michael Schumacher was widely considered the greatest F1 driver of all time, and he was able to get to 91 wins. The next closest person to them is Sebastian Vettel, with 53 victories. Another way to look at it is Hamilton has 100 wins, and the other 19 F1 drivers have a combined 146 wins.