At the Barcelona GP, Lewis Hamilton won his first victory at the wheel of Ferrari, bringing the seven-time world champion back to the top step of the podium and adding a new chapter to a career that has already entered the history of Formula 1. At the age of 41, the British driver is increasingly the point of reference in the category, with 106 victories, 104 pole positions and 206 podiums, numbers that make him the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1. All accompanied by 7 titles world championships, an absolute record that Hamilton shares with Michael Schumacher.
With the victory in Barcelona, Hamilton further enriched his palmarès by breaking record after record. For example, 19 years and 4 days passed between his first victory and his last: an unprecedented interval in the history of the category. A figure higher than the 15 years and 212 days that separate Kimi Räikkönen’s first and last victory (Sepang 2003 and Austin 2018), and the 14 years and 32 days of Michael Schumacher (Spa 1992 and Shanghai 2006). But it doesn’t end there: driver number 44 is now also in the ranking of the oldest drivers ever to win a Grand Prix, placing seventh. Let’s see in detail all the records of Lewis Hamilton’s extraordinary career, which reached season number 20 in Formula 1.
Formula 1 career: the driver who holds the most records
Lewis Hamilton continues to write the history of Formula 1 after his first victory in Ferrari at the Barcelona GP, which came 30 years after Michael Schumacher’s first success driving the Maranello single-seater, right on the Catalan circuit. At 41 years old, the seven-time world champion continues to update a career that has made him the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1. A dominant version of Hamilton has returned to Barcelona, as in his time at Mercedes, when the famous “It’s Hammer Time” communicated via radio by its engineer indicated the time to push to the limit, often with devastating effects for the opponents.
Hamilton is competing in his 20th season in F1, confirming himself among the longest-serving drivers in history. The record belongs to Fernando Alonso, with 22 seasons played between 2001 and 2026, with a break between 2019 and 2020. Here are some of Lewis Hamilton’s most incredible records:
- Driver with the most victories: with the victory in Barcelona, Lewis Hamilton reached 106 victories in F1, the all-time record holder ahead of Michael Schumacher (91) and Max Verstappen (71).
- Driver with the most pole positions in history: the Briton started in front of everyone 104 times, ahead of legendary drivers such as Michael Schumacher (68) and Ayrton Senna (65).
- Driver with the most pole positions on different circuits: here too Hamilton excels with 32 pole positions arriving on different circuits, behind him Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen (23).
- Driver with the most podiums: in 387 total races, Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium 206 times (53%), none like him in the history of F1. Behind him we find Michael Schumacher (155), Max Verstappen (128), Sebastian Vettel (122).
- Driver with the highest number of laps led: he is the driver who has led the most laps of anyone in the category with 5521 laps, followed by Michael Schumacher (5111) and Max Verstappen (3873).
- Driver with the highest number of points: Hamilton has won 5133 points in his career, completing 341 races out of 387 by scoring at least one point, an absolute record in F1.
Lewis Hamilton breaks longevity records: he is the first driver to win in his 20s, 30s and 40s
Longevity is one of the aspects that make Lewis Hamilton’s career unique. To understand the greatness of the British driver, just look at a record he consolidated after his first victory in Ferrari: he is the only driver in the history of Formula 1 to have won at least one Grand Prix in his 20s, 30s and 40s. Hamilton is also playing his 20th season in the top category, a feat surpassed only by Fernando Alonso with 22 championships contested.
With the victory achieved in Barcelona at the age of 41 years, 5 months and 7 days, Hamilton became the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix in the modern era of Formula 1 and the first over 40 to do so in the 21st century. The last forty-year-old driver to win a Grand Prix in the modern era was Nigel Mansell in the 1994 Australian GP, but in the history of Formula 1 there are even more extreme cases, such as that of Jack Brabham, winner of the South African GP in 1970 at the age of 43.
His continuity is also demonstrated by another impressive record: between the 2007 Australian GP and the 2020 Bahrain GP he took part in 265 consecutive Grands Prix, the longest streak in the history of Formula 1. The success achieved on the Catalan circuit also allowed Hamilton to enter the ranking of the oldest ever winners of Formula 1, occupying seventh place overall. 19 years and 4 days passed between his first victory, obtained in Canada in 2007, and that in Barcelona in 2026, also an absolute record that testifies to his extraordinary ability to remain competitive at the highest levels for almost two decades.
The victory in Spain also had particular significance for Ferrari, with Hamilton becoming only the fourth driver in the Scuderia’s history to win a Grand Prix after turning 40. Before the Briton’s success, the last Ferrari driver over 40 to win a race had been Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1956 German GP, aged 45 years and 42 days.
Hamilton’s longevity also emerges from his ability to win with different teams. After the successes achieved with McLaren and Mercedes, the Briton became the first driver in the history of Formula 1 to win at least one Grand Prix with McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. Furthermore, no driver had ever achieved a victory after exceeding 300 career starts: Hamilton achieved it three times, at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps in 2024 and in Barcelona in 2026. Finally, Lewis Hamilton also takes home the record of being the first English driver to win with Ferrari in the 21st century, the last to do so was Eddie Irvine at the 1999 Malaysian GP.
