When Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line yesterday to be crowned FIA Formula One World Champion for the fifth time in his career, not only the team at the race track in Mexico celebrated. Many Daimler employees in Germany and around the world had watched the race on TV, keeping their fingers crossed for their colleagues at the track. One of them was Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.
With his latest title, Lewis becomes one of only three drivers who have won five or more championships in Formula One, after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. All three played an important role in the racing history of Mercedes-Benz. Fangio’s name is almost synonymous with the historic era of success for the Silver Arrows in the 1950s. In 2010, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher came back from retirement to race for Mercedes, providing invaluable experience to the team. When he decided to retire three years later, Lewis took over his seat at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and has since won four drivers’ championships and four constructors’ championships with the team.
Lewis has long been one of the most success drivers in Formula One. He has scored more pole positions than any other F1 driver and he is second on the all-time list of race wins, behind only Michael Schumacher. Lewis also holds the record for most races with a single engine manufacturer, having started every single one of his 226 Formula One Grands Prix with a Mercedes-Benz engine.
