Hamilton takes Turkish GP to claim record-equaling 7th world title
Sports Desk, Nov 15 (efe-epa).- Lewis Hamilton won his seventh Formula One world championship on Sunday following a stellar performance to claim victory in the Turkish Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver made the top of the podium after starting sixth on the grid at the Istanbul Park, braving the challenging wet conditions that have dogged the circuit all weekend.
Hamilton has now equaled Michael Schumacher’s all-time world championship record in addition to extending the record for individual race wins, which he holds, to 94.
“I am definitely a bit lost for words,” a teary Hamilton told F1 media after the race. “I dreamed of this when I was young.”
“It’s so important for kids out there to see this and know to not listen to anybody who tells you that you can’t achieve something. Dream the impossible and speak it into existence.”
“My whole life I’ve secretly dreamt as high as this. I remember watching Michael winning those championships. We always hear just to get one or two or even three is so hard to get, seven is just so unimaginable.”
The ever-changing weather meant ever-changing tires for most of the drivers out on the recently resurfaced circuit, but Hamilton overrode his team when called to pit a second time and decided to hold steady with his set of intermediates.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas, the only driver who could have mathematically prevented Hamilton from claiming the championship today, struggled to get grip on the circuit. He spun four times during the race and was lapped by Hamilton.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez came in second place and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel completed the podium.
The German passed his teammate Charles Leclerc in the dying seconds after the Monegasque’s Ferrari locked up following a late attack on Perez in a last-gasp bid to snatch second.
