The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Hamilton backed to match title record
Mansell expects fellow Briton to reach seven championships before Mercedes deal ends
Lewis Hamilton will match Michael Schumacher’s record seven world championships before his Mercedes deal expires, Nigel Mansell has claimed with his fellow Briton standing on the brink of a historic title.
Hamilton, 33, requires just eight points more than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in tomorrow’s US Grand Prix to wrap up the championship and join Juan Manuel Fangio on five title triumphs.
There are a number of permutations as to how the Mercedes star can get his championship over the line, but the simplest is this: if he wins here in Austin, Texas, and Vettel is third, the glory is his.
A fifth championship for the Silver Arrows star would leave him two shy of a record that many thought would never be beaten.
But Mansell, the 1992 world champion, who, until Hamilton surpassed him, had won more races than any British driver, believes Schumacher is now firmly in his countryman’s sights.
Hamilton will remain with Mercedes until at least the end of 2020 after signing a deal to become the first £40 million-a-season driver this year.
“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.
“Sebastian will again be there or thereabouts, but Lewis is racing in a different stratosphere because he has been able to build his momentum, race by race, year by year.”
Indeed, Hamilton is set to sew up his fourth championship in five seasons either in America or Mexico next weekend, with a Mercedes team that Mansell believes must now be considered the best Formula One has seen.
Hamilton has been in unstoppable form since the summer break, winning six of the last seven races, to establish a 67-point lead over a mistake-ridden Vettel with only 100 remaining.
The British driver is unbeaten on US soil since 2013. But with the heavy rain which disrupted practice yesterday set to play a role in qualifying, Hamilton is not taking anything for granted.
“None of us at Mercedes are saying how cool it would be if it happened this weekend or the next in Mexico,” he said. “We are not focusing on ifs, we are focusing on making sure we deliver.”
Hamilton needed just one flying lap to set the fastest time in a rain-sodden second practice.
Offered the choice between remaining in his Mercedes garage or risking the elements on track, the championship leader told his team he was ready to go.
As in the opening running, it was Hamilton at the top of the time sheets.
Fans huddling in the soaked grandstands were made to wait 80 minutes before Hamilton emerged in his Mercedes with barely any on-track running.
Indeed, Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas was one of five drivers who did not bother to post a time in the slippery conditions.
Hamilton was a full second quicker than anybody else with the next fastest driver the Toro Rosso of Pierre Gasly, who finished ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Fernando Alonso was another late arrival on the wet asphalt, and he posted the fourth-best time for McLaren.
The poor weather is set to remain for another day, although it is expected to clear in time for tomorrow’s race.
Vettel finished only 11th.