Canberra
Lewis Hamilton can seal a record-equalling seventh drivers’ world title, position himself to be “best of the best” and set up long-awaited negotiations for a new Mercedes contract at this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.
The Briton needs only to prevent his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas outscoring him by eight points to retain his crown and, in the eyes of many including former Ferrari rival Felipe Massa, move on to become the most successful in F1 history.
A seventh championship would draw him level with Massa’s erstwhile Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher for titles, but with the record for wins, poles and podiums, as well as consecutive points finishes, he will in many eyes already be the “greatest of all time”.
Brazilian Massa, who himself missed out on a title triumph when Hamilton claimed his first in Sao Paulo in 2008, has no doubt that the Englishman, whose contract expires later this year, will deserve that soubriquet and a salary to match it.
“Lewis can really be the best of the best and everybody will say that for years and years, or maybe decades, or whatever,” he told the F1 Nation podcast.—AFP
