Lewis Hamilton is the “envy” of most drivers for having always had a car capable of winning races, Mario Andretti says.
While most drivers usually have to work their way to the front of the grid, the Briton did have the fortunate position of immediately stepping into a front-running team at McLaren in 2007, not that he hadn’t earned that place.
That has allowed Hamilton to achieve the remarkable record of winning in every season in which he’s competed, including 2009 and 2013, the two years when he didn’t have a consistently strong car.
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It is mainly thanks to the dominance of Mercedes since 2014, however, that Hamilton now sits just seven wins away from Michael Schumacher’s record total of 91 and one short of the German’s tally of seven F1 championships.
And Andretti admits seeing a driver with the chance to match Schumacher is something he never expected to happen.
“Well, when you look at Formula 1, obviously [Hamilton’s] record speaks for itself,” he said in a video on Yahoo Sport.
“He’s young enough that he can probably become the all-time winningest. It’s a record that I never thought anyone would come close to, a record that’s owned by Michael Schumacher, of course.
“But Lewis has always had competitive cars. I don’t remember in his Formula 1 career whether, if at any time, he was with a non-winning potential car.
“He did his job and he keeps doing it, so I’m all in,” the American added, giving his support to Hamilton’s achievements.
“Obviously I’ve always been a fan of his and he’s, I’m sure, the envy of many other drivers. He has the equipment and he’s making the most of it and that’s what a driver’s supposed to do.”
