Stewart backs Hamilton to challenge Schumacher record

Jackie Stewart has "no regrets" after seeing Lewis Hamilton better his tally of three F1 world titles.

Jackie Stewart says there is no reason why Lewis Hamilton cannot challenge Michael Schumacher's record tally of seven Formula One world titles.

Hamilton was crowned champion for a fourth time at the Mexican Grand Prix last weekend, becoming the most successful British driver of all time.

The Mercedes man shared the British record of three world titles with Stewart before getting the job done at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

And Stewart is now backing his compatriot to hunt down Juan Manuel Fangio's mark of five crowns and go on to put Michael Schumacher's tally under threat.

"I think Lewis is a worthy winner this year, particularly the second part of the season," said the Scot.

"He's driven extremely well and totally deserved the championship.

"A lot of questions have been asked of me because Lewis has now surpassed my record, in the British sense, of holding three world championships. I held it for 44 years, which is a ridiculous amount of time.

"From my point of view I have no regrets whatsoever – records are made to be broken. It's almost disappointing that no other British driver has come along during that period of 44 years to beat my record, therefore I congratulate Lewis completely for joining the likes of Alain Prost, Schumacher, Fangio and Sebastian Vettel.

"There's no reason to assume Lewis won't go even further and challenge Schumacher's and Fangio's records, and I wish him the very best of luck on that. He's earned everything and deserves every recognition for winning four world championships."