‘I don’t need to be remembered as the GOAT’

On the cusp of breaking F1’s all-time win record, Lewis Hamilton says he’s “not done yet” as he’s still has room for improvement.

Last time out at the Eifel Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver wrote his name into Formula 1’s history books when he matched Michael Schumacher’s 91 race wins.

Next time out in Portugal, he could break the record and, if he doesn’t, he still has a further five races to make it his own this year.

It is not inconceivable to think that Hamilton, who is expected to re-sign with Mercedes for next year’s championship, could pass the 100 race win mark.

“I think it’s really hard to suddenly be rewriting history, that’s a very hard idea, for me personally,” he said.

“I can only speak from my experience, but it’s really hard to compute that and put that into reality and meaning.

“Of course, I’ve looked at and I still watch other people who are cool legends in other sports who are chasing historic moments and titles and records that were broken by great legends in the past.

“And it’s different watching it from the outside than to be in it.

“But what I can say is I’m not done yet. I still feel that I’m able to improve. I still feel like I’m driving at a really good level.”

The exact moment the penny dropped for @LewisHamilton!#EifelGP 🇩🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ANjozozar0

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 15, 2020

Get your hands on the official Mercedes 2020 collection via the Formula 1 store

The Brit’s latest victory saw him move out to a 69-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Should Hamilton take this year’s crown, and it is looking very much as if he will, it will be a record-equalling seventh World title.

Next year he could be chasing an unprecedented eighth.

“What’s been really clear to me is, yes, it’s so great having these wins. But I think the more important things are what you do out of car,” he added.

“That’s really where I think the impact can be made.

“I’ve never, ever really wanted to be remembered other than to my family. But obviously, having these results, this journey that I’ve had with my fans, hopefully they will remember me.

“I would imagine all of you want to be remembered for being a good human being and someone that actually cared about the world and did what they did with great intentions.

“It’s not the most important thing for me to be remembered as the best or the greatest, as I said, because I have so much respect for those drivers in the past.

“I don’t feel like I need to compare myself to them because I’m different. And we all are different and unique.”

Follow us on Twitter @Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.