Hamilton celebrating his Sprint victory - Photo: Race Pictures

Lewis Hamilton - Photo: Race Pictures

US GP result sees Hamilton reach incredible career landmark

08:59, 21 Oct

byTobia Elia

Lewis Hamilton once again rewrote Formula 1 history at the end of last weekend in Austin.

With his fourth-place finish on Sunday, the seven-time world champion has surpassed the incredible milestone of 5,000 career points — a record unmatched by any other driver in Formula 1 history.

With 5,004 career points to his name, the Ferrari driver tops Formula 1’s all-time points leaderboard, with his closest rival, Max Verstappen, not far behind on 3,329.5 — an astonishing tally for a 28-year-old and a clear sign he could yet break the record in the years to come.

Sebastian Vettel rounds out the top three with 3,098 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 2,372 and Kimi Räikkönen on 1,873. It’s worth noting, however, that several of these drivers began their careers under a very different points system, one that awarded far fewer points than today’s — a factor that has undoubtedly played to Verstappen’s advantage.

Lewis Hamilton during the United States Grand Prix - Photo: Race Pictures

Hamilton to sit out FP1 in Mexican GP

On Monday, Ferrari announced that the seven-time world champion will sit out the opening practice session in Mexico — following the same pattern seen earlier this year in Bahrain and Austria, when Charles Leclerc handed his car to young prospect Dino Beganovic.

Hamilton’s SF-25 will be driven by Antonio Fuoco, a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and one of the team’s factory WEC drivers, who famously triumphed in last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with the 499P.

The Briton will return to the cockpit for the second session, as the Mexican Grand Prix brings Formula 1 back to a traditional weekend format after the sprint in Austin. On the other side of the garage, Leclerc is set to take part from the opening session.

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