Hamilton is officially the most loyal F1 driver in history

[CHT]

“I’ve also been told by someone on the team that, of all the drivers in Formula One to have only driven for one team, I’m now the driver who’s raced in the most Grands Prix. I’m told that Jim Clark drove 72 races for Lotus, and Malaysia was my 73rd race with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

“And it also makes me feel very humble - I never saw Jim Clark race, but I know that he’ll always be remembered as one of the greats, and as a loyal Lotus driver. Loyalty’s extremely important and I’m proud to be mentioned in the same breath as him. It only gives me even more determination to bounce back stronger than ever.”

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11923.html

[wunderkind]

It would be great to see Lewis stay with McLaren during his entire career. I just hope McLaren can provide him with the machinery to be a consistent challenger for the Championship titles.

[CyleB]

this is true but who has driven for 1 team the most regardless of how many teas they have driven for???

[chepoi]

i don't think so.... LH cannot live without reigning world champion as a teammate (Alonso, Jenson).... sooner or later he might be on the Webber car.... and he ALREADY give a sign.

Whitmash "tactic" want to offer extended 5 years contract extension is the loyal test for LH. If he sign then he should forget about to be in the same team as reigning champion. But he not.. i'm sure that LH car will be midfielder. And in this case if Jenson sign extended contract... then Jenson have a chance to get the "luxury" first class treatment on his car compared to LH.

So whoever sign first... then he will be "the first"... LH please do act. if not...

[Just_a_fan]

Title is slightly misleading but the actual statistic is interesting. Of course, with the longer seasons these days, drivers can get to Clark's record fairly quickly (<4 seasons).

[volarchico]

No one else has ever done 4 seasons with one team?

[Just_a_fan]

this is true but who has driven for 1 team the most regardless of how many teas they have driven for???

Michael did 181 with Ferrari (would have been more had he not broken his leg).

[Hangaku]

ONLY one team.

[chepoi]

this is true but who has driven for 1 team the most regardless of how many teas they have driven for???

Michael did 181 with Ferrari (would have been more had he not broken his leg).

DC i think did a lot more than LH with McLaren...

[Just_a_fan]

Yes, but that was having also driven for other teams. The OP is about drivers who have only driven for one team. Someone later asked who had driven most for a single team irrespective of having also driven for other teams.

There are two threads running here now...

[Ashley]

Just to know guys...
For which other team do you see Lewis racing???
Red Bull (taking the place of Webber), Ferrari (Taking Massa's seat) or maybe even the ever improving Lotus Renault team (It must be said, this team has everything to be world champion except a world class driver, so maybe Lewis, why not)

What do you think???

[andrew]

this is true but who has driven for 1 team the most regardless of how many teas they have driven for???

Michael did 181 with Ferrari (would have been more had he not broken his leg).

DC i think did a lot more than LH with McLaren...

Coulthard did 135 races for McLaren and Hakkinen was much the same, but they both drove for other teams.

Just to know guys...
For which other team do you see Lewis racing???

I don't see him racing for anyone else. McLaren supposedly want him for the next 10 years.

[Just_a_fan]

Just to know guys...
For which other team do you see Lewis racing???
Red Bull (taking the place of Webber), Ferrari (Taking Massa's seat) or maybe even the ever improving Lotus Renault team (It must be said, this team has everything to be world champion except a world class driver, so maybe Lewis, why not)

What do you think???

He won't go to Red Bull whilst Vettel is the de facto No. 1 driver. Likewise Ferrari with Alonso. He might like the idea of going to Red Bull and beating Vettel "in his own back yard" but he's unlikley to get equal driver status in reality. Can't see Alonso having Hamilton in "his" team ever again. He's been there and suffered becasue of it.

Renault might be an option but only if they can show consistent race challenging peformance.

I'd say he'll stay where he is unless McLaren totally fall off the cliff or Ferrari offer him No. 1 driver status and a team built around him (as in the Michael days).

[bot6]

I'll think he'll stick around. There is no team quite as consistently competitive as McLaren and Lewis knows that. They have a very good infrastructure, good management, an inventive and reactive technical team... Look how fast they turned things around this year. No other team is capable of righting things that quickly.

Signing a long term contract is not about who has the best car, it's about who will have the best car the most often in the next 5-6 years. And for that, McLaren has more credentials than Red Bull.

[raymondu999]

Just to know guys...
For which other team do you see Lewis racing???
Red Bull (taking the place of Webber), Ferrari (Taking Massa's seat) or maybe even the ever improving Lotus Renault team (It must be said, this team has everything to be world champion except a world class driver, so maybe Lewis, why not)

What do you think???

Ever since he linked himself since he was 9 years old or something with McLaren, I think it's been a dream for him, and I think he's going to cling on to that dream