Mansell: Hamilton to match Schumi by 2020

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Nigel Mansell: Lewis Hamilton to match Schumacher by 2020

Nigel Mansell: Lewis Hamilton to match Schumacher by 2020

1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell has backed his fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of seven World Championships by 2020.

Hamilton is on the cusp of a fifth World Championship title, which would see move ahead of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel and put him level with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio on the all-time winners’ list.

And Mansell believes this imminent title success will only give him the hunger to achieve even more in Formula 1 over the coming seasons.

“Lewis is on a crest of a wave and I predict that within the next couple of years he will get his seventh World Championship,” Mansell said.

“The confidence of winning puts you on another level, and if he keeps his desire I can’t see anyone challenging him next season either.

Fernando Alonso named Lewis Hamilton as one of the five best World Champions of all-time ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

Mansell agrees Hamilton should be held in that high regard, but said the distinctly different eras in Formula 1 makes it difficult to compare him to others.

He added: “Will Lewis go down as one of the greatest drivers of all time? Of course he will, and he should, but times are very different now.

“I broke my back three times, I broke my neck, and my feet were in bits.

“I believe the great drivers are those that competed with no seatbelts, no crash helmets, and if you were involved in an accident there was a 50-50 chance you would die.”

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