Hamilton: “It’s going to take time to realize”

His collection is impressive. After Ayrton Senna's helmet for breaking the pole position record, Lewis Hamilton received one of the elders of Michael Schumacher from the hands of his son Mick.

The pilot Mercedes tied the record of 91 victories in Formula 1 held by the Red Baron. “ It's a huge gift. I don't even know what to say. I grew up watching him, idolizing him, I was impressed by his qualities, everything he did and his ability to always fight. I even remember playing him in video games, commented the Englishman.

In those moments, you never imagine even approaching him… And here I am. I only realized this when I arrived in the pit lane, but it will take time to realize ».

The Mercedes driver equals Schumacher's record in Germany. An almost written symbol. Valtteri Bottas, who started from pole, actually retired, a first this season for a Flèche d'Argent. He just had to keep his distance Max Verstappen.

« It wasn't easy, he was very fast », he nuances. The race was especially tense at the start. The two drivers from the German team went very wide at the first corner. “ I made a good takeoff, I slipped alongside Valtteri, I left him as much room as possible, says Hamilton. I moved at turn 2 on the outside and he was able to come back. I was impressed because he realized ».

Bottas in front, the six-time world champion has not given up. “ I tried to stay in contact and manage my tires. I saw that he was starting to have graining and I attacked in the last laps » to the point of pushing his teammate to make a mistake, before his mechanical breakdown.

Now almost untouchable in the championship with more than 50 points in advance, or two victories, Lewis Hamilton will have the opportunity in Portimao to become the only record holder for the number of victories, before undoubtedly equaling that of world champion titles .