Lewis Hamilton equaled the five Formula 1 titles of Juan Manuel Fangio when he sealed the 2018 championship in Mexico GP.
Following Hamilton’s fifth F1 title in Mexico GP, the British driver equaled the record of the late Fangio, who won his five championships in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957 respectively with four different manufacturers.
He won with Daimler Benz (Mercedes) in 1954 and 1955 – although in 1954 he started the season with Maserati but completed with Daimler. He won with Alfa Romeo in 1951, Ferrari in 1956 and Maserati in 1957.
At the same time, Hamilton has won it with McLaren and Mercedes in his career so far – the first one in 2008 with McLaren (with a Mercedes engine in the car), while the remainder in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 with Mercedes.
The 33-year-old is now only the third driver in F1’s history to win five titles and more, joining Michael Schumacher (7) and aforementioned Fangio with title rival Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel sitting behind with four.
To celebrate the historic feat, the Mercedes driver was greeted by Juan Manuel Fangio II – the uncle of the Argentine champion during the Brazil GP when he presented Hamilton with an original replica of the championship trophy Fangio won after winning his fifth title.
In return, the British driver gave away a signed replica of his helmet from the 2017 season when he won his fourth title for Fangio’s museum as the two then watched a video of Hamilton driving the the Argentine’s car.
