Lewis Hamilton makes history to become a seven-time world champion by winning the Turkish Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton was unable to hold back his emotions after bursting into tears upon winning the Turkish Grand Prix and claiming an historic seventh world championship.

Hamilton produced the drive of drives in a compelling rain-hit Istanbul race to draw level with Michael Schumacher’s all-time championship haul, 16 years after the great German set a record many thought would stand the test of time.

But Hamilton, a black man from a Stevenage council estate, has re-written the Formula One record books and, in the process, staked his claim to be considered among the greatest British sportsmen who have ever lived.

Alongside his record-equalling seventh title, Hamilton has more wins (94), more poles (97) and more podiums (163) than any driver who has gone before him.

After his incredible achievement, praise poured in from sporting colleagues and politicians, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said Hamilton had ‘made us all so proud’. 

Reflecting on the enormity of his achievement with three rounds of this Covid-disturbed season remaining, Hamilton sat in his black Mercedes machine with his head buried in his hands.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was the first to go over to congratulate him. ‘You are the best of our generation’, the German told his one-time rival.

After several minutes strapped in his car, Hamilton managed to compose himself, before removing his helmet and standing on top of the Mercedes that powered him to his sixth title in seven spectacular years.

‘Very rarely do I lose control of my emotions but I remember those last few laps and I was just telling myself to keep it together,’ said the Briton, who crossed the line a staggering 31.6 seconds clear of Sergio Perez. Vettel completed the podium positions.

‘But I could feel it getting closer and knowing that if I finish where I finish now I will win this championship. All these emotions were running through me and I was trying to stop it.

‘I was thinking about my whole career, when I was five and I drove my first kart to winning my first British championship, and driving home singing We Are The Champions, and then dreaming of being here, and there it is, right there, just minutes away, and that was a lot to take in.

‘When I came across the line it really hit me and I just burst into tears. I couldn’t get out of the car because I couldn’t believe what had happened.

‘I didn’t want the visor to come up and people to see the tears because I always would say you will never see me cry. I have seen other drivers cry in the past, and I was like, I am never going to do that, but it was too much.’

Hamilton paid tribute to his father, Anthony, who worked multiple jobs to fund his son’s path to stardom.

‘I couldn’t have done it without the great man behind me, my dad,’ the 35-year-old added.

‘On the days I didn’t think I was good enough, or wasn’t going to do well enough, he stood me up and kept me going.

‘I was thinking of him, my mum, my step-mum Linda, my brother. They have all stood by me through thick and thin.’

Hamilton has become a leading voice in the fight for equality and greater diversity. He added: ‘It is no secret that I have walked this sport alone as the only person of colour here.

‘When I was younger I didn’t have anybody in the sport that looked like me so it was easy to think it is not possible.

‘But hopefully this sends a message to the kids that are watching that it doesn’t matter where you come from or your background, but what is important is to dream big.

‘You can create your own path and that is what I have been able to do, and it has been so tough. Tough doesn’t even describe how hard it has been.’

This was not Hamilton’s race to win. But while those around him lost their cool, Hamilton motored from fifth to first in a matter of pivotal laps to take control of the race.

Valtteri Bottas, the only man who could stop Hamilton from winning the title, spun six times before finishing a lap down in 14th. 

Max Verstappen, the obvious heir to Hamilton’s throne, also slipped off the track on multiple occasions.

But Hamilton was serene, delivering a mesmerising performance that drew parallels with one of his finest afternoons behind the wheel of a Formula One machine, at Silverstone in 2008, when he romped to victory in similarly testing conditions.

Hamilton won his maiden title that year in Brazil. Little did he know then, that six further titles would follow. So, how will he celebrate?

‘I am going to go home tonight and probably just watch the race,’ he said. ‘I usually have a minestrone soup and I will definitely have a bottle of wine.’

Social media was awash with praise for Hamilton after his latest incredible achievement. 

Former world champion Nico Rosberg led the adulation on Twitter, hailing his former rival and teammate’s achievements as ‘insane’ and among the ‘greatest’ in sporting history.

The German, who took the title in 2016 after a fierce battle with Hamilton, wrote: ‘7 x World Champion – that’s insane! Massively deserved. Surely one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports.

‘Congratulations Lewis and enjoy the celebrations with your family and friends.’

Formula One described Hamilton and his joint record holder Schumacher as ‘legendary drivers’.

Meanwhile, the Mercedes team were blown away by the impressive exploits of their star driver.

After tweeting they were ‘speechless’ as Hamilton took the chequered flag in style, they added: ‘WHAT A WAY TO DO IT, MATE. WHAT A WAY TO WIN YOUR SEVENTH WORLD TITLE!’.

Other members of the motorsport community swiftly offered congratulatory words.

Dario Franchitti, a four-time IndyCar Series champion and three-time Indy 500 winner, saluted the winning performance in Istanbul as a ‘masterclass’, while Dutch racing driver Giedo Van Der Garde posted a picture of himself on the podium alongside a youthful Hamilton and praised the Briton’s self-belief.

‘A masterclass today from @LewisHamilton to win his seventh World championship. So so impressive,’ tweeted Franchitti.

Van Der Garde wrote: ‘Who would’ve thought that kid would go on to win 7 World Championships. I guess you did. Congratulations champ, you wrote history again today. @LewisHamilton’.

French driver Romain Grosjean, who retired from the race on lap 52, had expected Schumacher’s record to stand the test of time.

He wrote: ‘Congrats @LewisHamilton Didn’t think Michael record was ever going to be equalize. Very impressive Congrats @MercedesAMGF1 for the incredible work also.’

England’s football team were short but sweet in their praise for the Stevenage-born driver, simply writing: ‘Congratulations, Lewis!’ followed by a clapping emoji.

Former England striker Gary Lineker hailed Hamilton’s display as ‘stunning’, adding a goat emoji at the end of his tweet.

‘Congratulations to @LewisHamilton on equalling Michael Schumacher’s 7 world titles,’ wrote Lineker.

‘What an achievement. Has to be right up there alongside our greatest ever sportspeople. Stunning.’

However, not everyone in the football community was as complimentary.

Former Republic of Ireland striker Stephen Elliott dismissed suggestions Hamilton is Britain’s greatest sportsman as ‘ludicrous’ in a tweet questioning the worthiness of Formula One.

‘Maybe an unpopular opinion and I may be in the minority but some people claiming Lewis Hamilton as the greatest British sportsman ever is ludicrous. He drives a car around in circles. Ok, he seems to be the best at it but still!!! £formula1,’ wrote the well-travelled former Sunderland and Wolves player.

On a more positive note, there was praise from the political world.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quick to hail Hamilton’s success, saying he had done Britain proud.

He tweeted: ‘An impressive victory – well done @LewisHamilton! You have made us all so proud.’

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace hailed Hamilton’s feat as a ‘world beating achievement’, while Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden offered a similar sentiment.

‘Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton a world beating achievement. The UK should be very proud of his achievements and British Motorsport,’ wrote Wallace.

Dowden posted: ‘Huge congratulations to @LewisHamilton 7 times @F1 World Champion and won in style £TurkishGP One of our greatest sports stars.’

Meanwhile, the man himself dedicated his achievements to his fans, family and friends in a series of tweets.

‘7X Formula 1 World Champion. Wow. To everyone that has supported me along the way, this is for you,’ posted Hamilton.

‘To my incredible family, where do I even start? I am eternally grateful for your unconditional love, sacrifices and support to my closest friends that have made this challenging season more bearable by continuously lifting my spirits, thank you, this year would have been so much harder without you.

‘To every rival that has pushed me to grow and become better, thank you, I share this with you too…’

All hail Hamilton, god of the grid: When Schumacher won his seventh title it looked like his record would stand for an eternity but now it’s a staging post for Lewis Hamilton on way to his eighth 

By Jonathan McEvoy for the Daily Mail 

Lewis Hamilton is King of the Track for a record-equalling seventh time. Victory on the day, victory over the season, victory for the ages.

The British driver sealed the world championship by winning the Turkish Grand Prix – holding his nerve, nursing his tyres for 50 laps, on the slippery track at Istanbul Park to write a celebrated concluding chapter to the annexation of his sport in 2020.

The win by a monster 31 seconds, the 94th of his career, put him level with Michael Schumacher, who lies stricken at home after his terrible skiing accident seven years ago. 

When the great German took his own title No 7 in Belgium 16 years ago, in a race he finished second, it seemed probable the record would stand for an eternity.

But over the course of the intervening season, Hamilton, by dint of his own skill and unrelenting focus, has turned the impossible target into a staging post. On next to his eighth wonder of the world.

He started the race only sixth on the grid but gradually gnawed his way into the frame as the afternoon wore on.

Hamilton took the lead with patience, sure-footedness and style on lap 37, planting his black car on the rear of Sergio Perez’s Racing Point. 

The champion steered right and, withstanding the rivulet of water he now occupied, zipped past the pink machine for the lead between Turns 11 and 12, and an imperishable moment in the storied history of British sport.

As so often, the best drivers prove themselves in the wet, and this was a case in point. 

Time and again, stretching back to the first exhibition of his amphibious qualities in the foothills of Mount Fuji 13 years ago, Hamilton has proved his specialness in the toughest of conditions.

Here Hamilton and Mercedes kept their heads while all about them lost theirs. 

The Racing Points, for long and so fabulously in the lead, audibly fretted over the radio, such was their unfamiliarity with the rarefied air of race leadership. 

They ran out of steam and of options, and Hamilton was gunning for them, and as we have said, past one of them.

Now for the man who goes under the misnomer of Hamilton’s team-mate, Valtteri Bottas. He should be renamed his victim.

The Finn simply cannot live with the Stevenage-born peddler at close to the zenith of his capabilities.

The chasm in class was exhibited time and again here. If Bottas can count himself unlucky to have spun on the opening lap trying to avoid the two Renaults, he cannot excuse the many slips that followed. He finished 14th.

And to think he started the day as the only contender who could possibly – that is to say mathematically – prevent Hamilton winning the title with three races to spare. 

But, hey, he ended up lapped by the prey that twice drove out of his sight. 

And all this against the backdrop of a dismal two previous days. Hamilton had moaned like mad about the track – how slippery it was in the wet or dry having only been resuraced in the last fortnight.

On Friday, he called it terrifying. What was he talking about? Of course, it was perilous, full of perdition at every turn, but suddenly putty in his gloved hands.

My mind turned back to the first of his great glories on that rain-splattered afternoon in Sao Paulo when rain fell and he passed Timo Glock for the first of his world titles. He was then but a boy, a 23-year-old with the world at his right foot.

There was an element of luck that time. Yesterday, there was no fortune. Nor complication of machinery – ask Bottas to verify that!

Hamilton somehow – and this is beyond explanation of the greatest boffin who ever studied physics, engineering or cosmology – rationed his intermediate tyres better than the rest, beyond compare. 

Perez finished second, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third.

Someone in the press box asked me what lap Racing Point’s Lance Stroll pitted. It reminded me of the old story of the young journalist in the Old Trafford press box who, when George Best despatched a scorcher, asked a colleague what minute he had scored. 

The older hand told him: ‘Don’t worry about the minute, remember the date.’

The race had started, albeit no longer raining, on a track that in the shy sun gleamed like a silver operating table.

But the surgical precision was the sole preserve of Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, who outshone the young pretender Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who was impetuous and brilliant in turns. Hamilton was just brilliant – well, as well as prudent.

And it ended here with tears on the radio, an exclamation that told of a lifetime’s endeavour.

We have worn out the superlatives this season until the thesaurus conceded defeat. All hail Hamilton, god of the grid.