Hamilton not thinking about Schumacher record, as he insists he has ‘work cut out’ to win Eifel GP

Lewis Hamilton won the 2011 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring from P2 on the grid. But despite being set to start the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix from the same position, the reigning World Champion was predicting that it would be tough to repeat his feat from nine years ago – which would see him take a Michael Schumacher-matching 91st F1 victory…

Hamilton was beaten to pole position for the Eifel GP by his Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas, the Finn lapping the Nurburgring 0.256s faster than him – while Hamilton’s time for P2 was just 0.037s quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in third.

READ MORE: Hamilton at a loss to explain Q3 pace dip in Eifel GP qualifying

And asked what equalling Schumacher’s record of 91 F1 wins would mean to him should it happen, Hamilton insisted he was more focused on getting the better of Russian GP winner Bottas and Verstappen than thinking about any historic career milestones.

“Honestly it wouldn’t make any difference,” replied Hamilton. “I’ve got my work cut out tomorrow, and it's not something that I'm really particularly thinking about. If and when it happens it’ll be great, but right now these two are making it pretty hard for me. I’m enjoying this battle I have with the guys.”

Meanwhile, pushed on whether he was keen to get the record done as soon as possible, Hamilton replied abruptly: “Not particularly. I’m just not really bothered by it.

“You keep asking me questions about it and I can't tell you. I don’t feel a particular way about it right now. I'm solely focused on trying to do the best job I can, and if that gets me a win, then great. But of course I'm not looking short-term, I'm looking further ahead, you know?”

READ MORE: Bottas says last-gasp pole extra satisfying after he snatches it away from Hamilton with final run

Hamilton looks well-placed to match another Schumacher record in 2020 too, meanwhile, with the Mercedes driver currently 44 points ahead of team mate Bottas in the drivers’ standings, as he seeks to equal Schumacher’s record of seven world championships this season.