Lewis Hamilton wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Which country has the most F1 world champions?
Lewis Hamilton has won the Formula One World Championship in Abu Dhabi as Nico Rosberg, his only rival for the title, was beaten from the first corner.
Hamilton, who becomes the first British driver to win multiple world titles since Sir Jackie Stewart in 1972, overtook the pole-positioned Rosberg before the first corner and then all but cantered to victory, as the German suffered a series of mechanical problems.
With this being the fifteenth championship to go to a British driver, which is the most successful country in the history of the sport? Well, actually, it’s Britain.
Britain's 15 wins put it ahead of second placed Germany, which has 11 (seven of them belonging to Michael Schumacher and four to Sebastian Vettel).
What about the country with the most world champions? Actually, that’s Britain too. We have 10 different champions, with Jackie Stewart the most successful, with three titles. Graham Hill, Jim Clarke, and Lewis Hamilton all have two.
The second most successful country is far behind: Brazil has three champions; Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, and Emerson Fittipaldi.
On the evidence of a dominant season in which he won 11 races, a feat only accomplished by Vettel and Schumacher before him. Vettel and Schumacher went on to win 13 in a later season, however. So how good is Hamilton?
He is fifth on the list of all-time wins, with 33. That puts him six races behind Vettel and two ahead of Nigel Mansell but a huge 58 race wins (and five titles) behind Michael Schumacher.
The oldest F1 driver to win a race was 53 years old, but that was Luigi Fagioli back in 1951. In what can roughly be considered the contemporary era Mansell is the oldest: he won the Australian Grand Prix in 1994 aged 41. Some Hamilton, might if he’s lucky, have another 12 years to catch Schumacher.
That's a lot of races to make up, but he ha already joined some huge names after his second championship. One more could see him move alongside his idol, Ayrton Senna:
He still has a few seasons to catch up and, if Mercedes can ensure a dominant ride for him next season, Hamilton could be well on his way.