Hamilton poised to equal record

MOTORSPORT

LONDON: Lewis Hamilton seeks to complete a recordequalling seventh Formula One world title in Turkey on Monday to give his Mercedes team backtoback celebrations.

The German team clinched a record seventh straight constructors’ title at the last race at Imola on November 1, one more than

Ferrari achieved from 1999 to

2004.

The last five of those Ferrari titles were largely due to Michael Schumacher winning the drivers’ title in the same year to complete what at the time seemed an unbeatable seven career trophies.

But now Hamilton and Mercedes are rewriting the F1 history books and Hamilton insisted in Imola that ‘‘What we have done is no coincidence.

‘‘Valtteri [Bottas] and I are just a part of this incredible chain of people who are collectively working and all rowing in the same direction.’’

The Istanbul Park Circuit was added to the calendar for a first race since 2011 as it had to be redrafted due to the Covid19 pandemic.

The last driver to celebrate a victory there was Sebastian Vettel, back then with Red Bull. Hamilton is on a dominant run of three victories and leads Bottas by 85 points.

After the Turkish Grand Prix only a maximum 78 points will be available in the remaining three races, two in Bahrain and the closer in Abu Dhabi.

That means Bottas needs to outscore Hamilton by at least eight points on Monday if he wishes to keep the title race alive.

Therefore the Briton can still afford to finish second behind the Finn, as long as Bottas does not have the fastest race lap, and still have a very good reason to celebrate.

If the maths to the championship seem easy, that is not the case when it comes to Hamilton’s future in Formula One, in which he has also surpassed Schumacher on race wins this season — he now has 93 — and his 97 pole positions have long been an F1 record.

He has talked positively about continuing the partnership with Mercedes, but still has not agreed on a new deal after his contract expires at the end of 2020. — DPA