HOW HAMILTON STANDS SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH THE FORMULA 1 GREAT

Lewis Hamilton has driven a coach, some horses and a Mercedes-Benz through just about every record in Formula 1’s history books and he shows no signs of slowing down.

His place among the greats is assured, but just how does he stack up against the drivers of the past? It is so hard to do, but the purest statistic is probably the strike-rate of victories. Stats guru Peter Higham has compiled the comprehensive list of the top 20 in terms of win percentages.

But even then, the numbers aren’t a hard-and-fast rule. Hamilton has 20 chances a year to perform, where as the first world title was contested over just seven.Also, the machines of yesteryear weren’t as robust as they are today, and several drivers on this list have had their careers cut short due to death or injury.

For the purposes of this analysis, the only starts that we have recorded are when a racer