{"id":490868,"date":"2025-10-11T11:31:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490868\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T11:31:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:31:25","slug":"the-f1-record-lewis-hamilton-just-snatched-away-from-michael-schumacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/490868\/","title":{"rendered":"The F1 record Lewis Hamilton just snatched away from Michael Schumacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fastest laps may have been, at times, of limited significance in Formula 1; still, Lewis Hamilton<\/a>\u2019s quickest race lap in the Singapore Grand Prix marked his 16th consecutive season with the feat, which shouldn\u2019t be understated.<\/p>\n

Michael Schumacher<\/a> was the previous record holder, having achieved fastest laps every year from his first full F1 campaign, in 1992, to his initial retirement at the end of the 2006 season.<\/p>\n

More on F1 history:<\/p>\n

Hamilton made his F1 debut the following year, taking a runner-up spot in 2007 and the world title in 2008 with 13 poles and nine wins overall, but just three fastest laps \u2013 before he failed to achieve any in 2009, which was a tough season for McLaren<\/a>. That year, he came closest at the Italian GP, with a 0.063s deficit on Force India\u2019s Adrian Sutil<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since then, Hamilton has got at least one fastest lap every year. Let\u2019s look at how he did it.<\/p>\n

2010 \u2013 Five fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4\/25<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sutton Images<\/p>\n

Hamilton is the oft-forgotten title contender of the 2010 season, in which nobody got more fastest laps than him \u2013 five, as many as Ferrari<\/a>\u2019s Fernando Alonso<\/a>. In the last year of the pre-Pirelli and pre-DRS era, the McLaren driver prevailed at Shanghai, Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps, Interlagos \u2013 by 0.004s over Alonso \u2013 and Yas Marina.<\/p>\n

2011 \u2013 Three fastest laps<\/p>\n

The 2011 season arguably was Hamilton\u2019s worst, as team-mate Jenson Button<\/a> took the upper hand amid numerous mistakes by his junior. Hamilton still achieved three fastest laps at Barcelona, the Nurburgring and Monza \u2013 the latter by 0.020s over Button.<\/p>\n

2012 \u2013 One fastest lap
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-27<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sutton Images<\/p>\n

McLaren had a very competitive car in 2012, as shown by the team\u2019s eight poles and seven wins, but Hamilton took just one fastest lap\u2026 in the eventful, rain-affected title decider in Brazil \u2013 where track conditions were at their best between laps 34 and 39. Hamilton lapped in 1m18.069s, outpacing Button by 0.039s, but retired in a collision with Force India\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2013 \u2013 One fastest lap<\/p>\n

Hamilton moved to Mercedes<\/a> for 2013, but the team was yet to become the powerhouse it now is. The Briton won just one race, in Hungary, and set the fastest lap in Italy with a 1m25.849s that was 0.651s faster than anyone else. That was on the antepenultimate lap, when Hamilton overtook former team-mate Button on the main straight, making the most of the slipstream.<\/p>\n

2014 \u2013 Seven fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W05<\/p>\n

Photo by: Sutton Images<\/p>\n

Mercedes became all-powerful in the new turbo hybrid era, and so did Hamilton, who took his second world title with seven fastest laps in Malaysia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Japan and Brazil. His margin reached 0.894s at Sepang (he admittedly had a later pitstop for fresh tyres, but so did team-mate Nico Rosberg<\/a>) and 1.222s at Marina Bay (where he had a much later pitstop than anyone).<\/p>\n

2015 \u2013 Eight fastest laps<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s most prolific season. Mercedes\u2019 supremacy continued, and Hamilton prevailed in Australia, China, Spain, Britain, Italy, Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi. He was a whopping 1.002s faster than Rosberg at Suzuka.<\/p>\n

2016 \u2013 Three fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W07 Hybrid<\/p>\n

Photo by: Mercedes AMG<\/p>\n

A remarkably low number of fastest laps given how dominant Mercedes still was, and it could have been even fewer. Hamilton was 0.066s quicker than Ferrari\u2019s Sebastian Vettel<\/a> in Monaco, while he enjoyed a 0.080s and 0.0163s advantage over Rosberg in Austria and Belgium respectively.<\/p>\n

2017 \u2013 Seven fastest laps<\/p>\n

Hamilton had a new team-mate in Valtteri Bottas<\/a>, and Mercedes was now being challenged by Ferrari, but he still took fastest laps in China, Bahrain, Spain, Canada, Austria, Britain \u2013 that\u2019s six in nine races \u2013 and Singapore. Most of the time, he had very little margin on Vettel or Red Bull\u2019s Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> and Max Verstappen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2018 \u2013 Three fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1<\/p>\n

Photo by: Alessio Morgese \/ Luca Rossini<\/p>\n

Another season with Ferrari as Mercedes\u2019 main opponent, and Hamilton took fastest laps in Germany, Italy and the United States only. That Monza one was extremely tight, with an 0.008s gap to Vettel. At Austin, having pitted some 10 to 15 laps later than his rivals, Hamilton was 0.854s faster than Verstappen.<\/p>\n

2019 \u2013 Six fastest laps<\/p>\n

Mercedes was dominant again as F1 reintroduced a bonus point for the fastest lap. Hamilton prevailed on six occasions \u2013 including Monza, where he co-holds the record for most fastest laps at a single track. In that occurrence, his margin was 1.020s compared to Vettel, but that was down to a late pitstop.<\/p>\n

However, Hamilton did lose fastest laps to late pitstops by Vettel at Paul Ricard and Verstappen at the Hungaroring.<\/p>\n

2020 \u2013 Six fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W11 Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT01, Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo Racing C39 and Lance Stroll, Racing Point RP20 at the restart<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Another six fastest laps during that COVID-impacted season, at the Hungaroring, Silverstone, Monza, Mugello, Portimao and Imola \u2013 each of those with large margins, between 0.4s and 1.2s.<\/p>\n

Hamilton\u2019s dominance was so significant that, leading the Hungarian GP, he had a late pitstop for new tyres, snatching the fastest lap and retaining the win anyway.<\/p>\n

In the Italian GP, famously won by Pierre Gasly<\/a>, Hamilton set 13 times that were good enough to lead the fastest-lap table; however, a stop-go penalty for pitting when the pitlane was closed cost him the victory.<\/p>\n

Late pitstops from rivals deprived Hamilton of two fastest laps: Carlos Sainz<\/a> in the Styrian round and Bottas in Spain.<\/p>\n

2021 \u2013 Six fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12<\/p>\n

Photo by: Andy Hone \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

In his titanic title fight against Verstappen, Hamilton set six fastest laps \u2013 as many as the Dutchman \u2013 at Imola, Monaco, Spielberg, Zandvoort, Austin and Jeddah. His advantage was always larger than 0.6s, but was sometimes down to a late pitstop.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Red Bull\u2019s Sergio Perez<\/a> snatched the fastest lap away from Hamilton with late pitstops in Britain and Brazil, costing him two valuable points in the tight championship race; so did AlphaTauri\u2019s Gasly in Hungary.<\/p>\n

2022 \u2013 Two fastest laps<\/p>\n

Mercedes struggled in the first year of F1\u2019s new ground-effect era. Hamilton still set fastest laps on merit at Silverstone and the Hungaroring, where he finished third and second respectively. That\u2019s two fewer than team-mate George Russell<\/a>\u2019s four, but Mercedes\u2019 new race driver did however benefit from late pitstops on three occasions.<\/p>\n

2023 \u2013 Four fastest laps
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14<\/p>\n

Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

Hamilton prevailed on merit in Monaco and Mexico, while making the most of late pitstops in Belgium and Singapore. He finished all four races in the top four.<\/p>\n

Canada was another race where Hamilton was competitive, taking third on the podium, but a late pitstop by Perez denied him the fastest lap.<\/p>\n

2024 \u2013 Two fastest laps<\/p>\n

Hamilton set consecutive fastest laps for the first time since 2020, taking honours in Monaco and Canada \u2013 though he finished only seventh and fourth on the road \u2013 with 0.404s and 0.039 margins on Verstappen and Russell respectively.<\/p>\n

He lost a third fastest lap to Lando Norris<\/a>, who pitted late in Las Vegas, where Mercedes took a one-two with Russell on the top step of the podium.<\/p>\n

2025 \u2013 One fastest lap
\n \"Lewis <\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari<\/p>\n

Photo by: Shameem Fahath \/ Motorsport Network<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamilton set the fastest lap in the Singapore Grand Prix with a 1m33.808s that was 0.765s faster than second-quickest Gasly. The new Ferrari racer set that time right after his lap 46 pitstop for used soft tyres, in a 62-lap race.<\/p>\n

This was Hamilton\u2019s 68th fastest lap; Schumacher remains the record holder on 77, with Kimi Raikkonen<\/a> third on 46.<\/p>\n

Hamilton also went quickest in the Shanghai race but was disqualified over a technical breach, so lost the fastest-lap accolade.<\/p>\n

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– The Motorsport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fastest laps may have been, at times, of limited significance in Formula 1; still, Lewis Hamilton\u2019s quickest race…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[4199,155365,997,707,4200,998,1710,4859,130103,79,161895,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-490868","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-f1","9":"tag-f1-singapore-grand-prix-2025","10":"tag-ferrari","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-lewis-hamilton","14":"tag-mclaren","15":"tag-mercedes","16":"tag-singapore-gp","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-the-f1-record-lewis-hamilton-just-snatched-away-from-michael-schumacher","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115355313248072829","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}