Michael Schumacher made one scarily accurate Lewis Hamilton prediction after he won the 2008 F1 championship

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Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are the two most successful Formula 1 drivers in the history of the sport.

Max Verstappen’s won his fourth successive drivers’ championship in 2024, but still has a long way to go before he draws level with Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher.

The Dutchman could match Schumacher’s record of five consecutive titles if he wins the championship this year.

However, Red Bull have lost their advantage over the rest of the field, making Verstappen’s job much more difficult than it was expected to be 12 months ago.

The new regulations arriving in 2026 make Verstappen’s job even more difficult as no one knows which team will be on top.

It highlights just how incredible Schumacher and Hamilton’s achievements are that they each managed to win seven championships, and both changed teams in order to do so.

Schumacher won his first title with Benetton in 1994 before retaining his crown the following year and then immediately making the move to Ferrari.

After four seasons of work with the Scuderia – and a broken leg in 1999 – Schumacher finally won his third title in 2000 and was unstoppable until Fernando Alonso came along in 2005 with Renault to end his title-winning run.

The German eventually retired at the end of the 2006 season – only to surprisingly return in 2010 when Mercedes made their long-awaited F1 comeback.

Speaking to BBC Sport in 2008, via Formula 1’s official website, Schumacher made a surprising prediction about Hamilton’s career just after the Brit had won his first title in dramatic circumstances.

Michael Schumacher’s eerily accurate Lewis Hamilton prediction after 2008 F1 title win

Schumacher was asked in 2008 by Des Kelly whether any driver could dominate Formula 1 the way that he did.

In particular, he was asked if someone like Hamilton could win a world title and then achieve seven more titles or whether it was beyond the bounds of the modern age.

The German legend replied: “I would say absolutely yes [it’s possible].

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“Nobody thought and neither did I that I could beat the five of [Juan Manuel] Fangio and then I did and I even increased it to seven.

“Records are there to be beaten and I’m quite relaxed that one day it will happen, whether it’s Lewis, whether it’s [Felipe] Massa, whether it’s Sebastian Vettel or whoever.

“It might be somebody of the current [generation] or the future that could or will do it.

“I have no problem about it.”

Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher’s first F1 titles both won in dramatic fashion

Although there were 14 years before Schumacher and Hamilton’s maiden championship victories, they both came down to the final race.

Schumacher controversially crashed into Damon Hill after he had already hit the barrier and eliminated his only title rival to mathematically clinch victory.

Hamilton’s first title went down to the wire as well at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix.

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Timo Glock was overtaken by Hamilton on the final corner, earning the Brit enough points to topple Massa who Schumacher also tipped to have a very successful future in Formula 1.

Unfortunately, the Brazilian never sustained another championship challenge, but the fact that Schumacher could see that Hamilton had the potential to be a seven-time champion so early in his career is incredible.

Schumacher also tipped Sebastian Vettel for big things, despite the fact the German only had one Grand Prix victory to his name at this point.