PORTIMAO, Portugal (AFP) – Lewis Hamilton said he was in dreamland on Sunday after powering to victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix to become Formula One’s record all-time race winner.
His 92nd win lifted him one clear of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher’s 16-year-old record of 91 wins and opened up a 77-point lead ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished second, in the title race.
With five races remaining in the coronavirus-affected season, Hamilton is within reach of a record-equaling seventh championship and a record-increasing 100th pole position.
“I only ever dreamed of being where I am today,” he said after the race and a long hug with his father Anthony, who managed his early career.
“I didn’t have a magic ball when I chose to come here (Mercedes) – and all we have ever tried to do is make the most of it every single day. We are all rowing in the same direction.
“I have got my dad here which is amazing and my step-mum Linda – and Roscoe (his dog) – so it’s a very special day. It’s going to take time to sink in, but I was still pushing coming across the line.
”Even now, I am still in race mode mentally so I can’t find the words right now to describe my emotions at the moment… Maybe I will be able to later on.”
On the team radio he emotionally told Mercedes that it was ”such an honour to work with you” and his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington replied, saying: ”It’s the same here, an honour, genuinely.”
