Lewis Hamilton felt it ‘strange’ to replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton: ‘Strange’ feeling to replace Schumacher at Mercedes

Record breaking Briton reveals how it felt to replace former legend at Mercedes

Sam Hall

Friday 6 November 2020 15:20

Lewis Hamilton has revealed he still finds it "crazy" that he was chosen to replace retiring F1 legend Michael Schumacher at Mercedes in 2013.

Schumacher left the sport with a record-breaking 91 wins but Hamilton, who joined the team with 21 victories to his hame, has now surpassed that total and is on the verge of equalling the German's seven drivers' title haul.

But he admitted: "What’s really crazy – for me – is that I was brought in, ultimately, to replace Michael, which was such a strange position to be in because, obviously, I’d watched this man dominate the sport and achieve such great things and he was stopping and I was going to be taking his place.

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"The guys that I worked with were his previous mechanics and engineers and what a privileged position to be in."

Following his retirement from the sport in 2006, Schumacher had been tempted back into the paddock to join Mercedes in 2010 when the German manufacturer returned to F1 for the first time since 1955.

However, the only success of note for Schumacher came in the 2012 European Grand Prix at Valencia where he finished third to stand on the podium for the 155th and final time.

Ahead of Hamilton's arrival, Mercedes had secured only a single victory through Nico Rosberg in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, but the Briton felt quickly at home and claims he was able to put his mark in the car instantly.

"They had had quite a difficult time and the car hadn’t been good," added Hamilton.

"I think what was really great was that, when I joined, I was personally able to put my stamp on the car and make a lot of alterations, particularly in 2013. And then we just collectively worked together.

"I knew that we would have a great engine because they had already started developing the engine before I’d even made my decision to join the team, before I’d signed the contract.

"Being that I was with Mercedes at McLaren, I was able to go to the factory, I knew what Mercedes was doing, I knew that McLaren was coming out of contract with Mercedes and I knew that I wanted to be with Mercedes-Benz because it’s such an iconic brand and they were so passionate about what they wanted to achieve.

"They’ve got such a great history and I knew that they had the power to turn things around."

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