Hamilton set to equal Schumacher’s record of 91 wins

Lewis Hamilton is one win away from matching Michael Schumacher’s all-time record 91 and the Mercedes Formula One driver will be favourite to get the job done in Russia on Sunday.

Some felt Schumacher’s tally might never be equalled when the seven-times world champion celebrated his last win in China in 2006.

Hamilton, a winner since his debut 2007 season and now making his 260th start, stands on the cusp of doing just that at a circuit that did not exist when the Ferrari great was racing.

The Briton has a better record than anyone in Sochi, with four wins since the first race there after the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Mercedes have yet to be beaten at the circuit.

If they triumph again, it will also be a record for most successive wins by a team at the same grand prix.

“It just doesn’t seem real,” the six-times world champion said after his 90th win at Italy’s Mugello circuit on Sept. 13. “I never thought that I would be here, that’s for sure.”

The man most likely to keep Hamilton waiting is team mate Valtteri Bottas, who won in Sochi in 2017 — the first victory of his Formula One career.

The Finn needs something special since he is 55 points behind Hamilton after nine of 17 races with only one victory to his team mate’s six.

Mercedes may not have it all their own way, however, even if Ferrari — on pole last year with Charles Leclerc — are struggling.