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Hamilton, the King of North America

25.10.16

Victory in the United States Grand Prix last Sunday has promoted Lewis Hamilton to membership of the exclusive club for drivers who have won fifty or more Formula 1 Grands Prix. The Englishman thus joins Alain Prost who won 51 times and Michael Schumacher, who tops the list with a staggering 91 victories to his name.

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North America has always been a happy hunting ground for the man from Stevenage. No fewer than ten of his fifty wins, as well as seven of his 58 pole positions, have been secured in this continent, divided equally between the USA and Canadian Grands Prix. It was in Montreal in 2007 that Hamilton took his maiden victory with McLaren, which he added to eight days later on Formula 1’s final appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

At the circuit named in honour of Gilles Villeneuve, the reigning world champion also won in 2010 and 2012 with Ron Dennis’ team. He has also won the last two editions of this race at the wheel of a Mercedes. Hamilton’s record at the Circuit of the Americas is even more amazing. He finished fourth in 2013, but he has won every other race at this track, starting with the inaugural 2012 event and then consecutively from 2014 onwards.

Hamilton’s other lucky track would seem to be the tight and twisty Hungaroring, on the outskirts of Budapest, where he has won five times (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2016.) This produces the amazing statistic that 30% of his wins come from just three tracks. If the world championship was made up solely of multiple visits to these venues, the Englishman would likely be unbeatable!