Hamilton's 100th: How his stats compare

We take a look at the significance of Lewis Hamilton's 100th Grand Prix start and compare his career record so far with F1 legends past and present.

It will have taken the 27-year-old five years, four months and four days to rack up the three figures since bursting onto the F1 scene in unprecedented fashion back in Australia 2007, and here we take a look at how significant a milestone it is in historical terms and how his record at 99 starts stacks up compared with some of the greats of the sport at the same stage.

The 100 Club

Hamilton will become the 61st driver in Formula 1's 62-year history to reach the notable landmark and, aptly, the first since his junior karting rival and friend Nico Rosberg in Hungary last year. The expansion of the F1 calendar, and the fact a top driver's career now tends to span a longer period than was the norm in the past, means that what was once a very elite club has swelled somewhat in recent times with Hamilton set to become the eighth driver on the current grid alone to reach three figures (his former McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will then become the ninth just seven days later in Hungary). Indeed, while in the past you might have been considered a veteran at 100 starts, Hamilton is still only 27 and would have to stick around until his late 30s to get near the record 322 races Rubens Barrichello competed in between 1993 and 2011, with the evergreen Michael Schumacher only five races away from becoming F1's second triple centurion. Active drivers with 100 starts or more
Michael Schumacher - 295.
Jenson Button - 217.
Mark Webber - 185.
Fernando Alonso - 185.
Kimi Raikkonen - 164.
Felipe Massa - 161.
Nico Rosberg - 117.

A one team man

There may be much ongoing conjecture over what the future might hold for Hamilton into 2013, but as things stand all of Hamilton's 99 F1 starts have come behind the wheel of a McLaren. This statistic makes him, for the moment at least, the sport's ultimate 'one-team man', the Briton having last year surpassed Jim Clark's mark of 72 career starts in a Team Lotus car. Hamilton, however, would have to extend his McLaren stay by another five years to surpass Schumacher's record for the most races with a single team, the seven-times Champion making 179 starts for Ferrari over a glorious decade from 1996. In terms of all-time McLaren starts, David Coulthard holds the record on 150 with Hamilton currently in fourth place behind Alain Prost having surpassed boyhood idol Ayrton Senna's tally during his victorious Canadian GP weekend last month. The 2008 World Champion is still, however, 17 wins short of the great Brazilian's record number of 35 for a McLaren driver. Most race starts for McLaren
1. David Coulthard - 150.
2. Mika Hakkinen - 131.
3. Alain Prost - 107.
4. Lewis Hamilton - 99.
5. Ayrton Senna - 96.

How Hamilton's record stacks up

So, how does Lewis's statistics on the eve of his 100th race compare to legends of the past and present? Below we've compiled rankings in five key areas - number of poles, race wins, podiums, fastest laps and championships - for the 11 drivers who have won at least as many Grands Prix as Hamilton, 18, and also started no less than 99 Grands Prix (Clark, Juan-Manuel Fangio and Sebastian Vettel are all excluded from the comparison for this latter reason). To show how Hamilton's record stacks up, we have counted back how the respective legends tallies also stood after 99 starts which, as you'll see, has produced some interesting revelations... Poles after 99 starts
1. Ayrton Senna - 46.
2. Niki Lauda - 24.
3. Lewis Hamilton - 21.
4. Damon Hill - 20.
5. Jackie Stewart, Nelson Piquet, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso - 17.
9. Alain Prost - 16.
10. Nigel Mansell - 11.
11. Kimi Raikkonen - 10.
12. Mika Hakkinen - 3. Race wins after 99 starts
1. Jackie Stewart - 27.
2. Michael Schumacher - 26.
3. Ayrton Senna - 23.
4. Damon Hill - 22.
5. Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso - 19.
7. Lewis Hamilton - 18.
8. Niki Lauda - 17.
9. Nelson Piquet - 12.
10. Nigel Mansell - 10.
11. Kimi Raikkonen - 9.
12. Mika Hakkinen - 3. Podiums after 99 starts
1. Michael Schumacher - 53.
2. Ayrton Senna - 47.
3. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton - 46.
5. Alain Prost - 44.
6. Jackie Stewart - 43.
7. Damon Hill - 42.
8. Niki Lauda - 39.
9. Kimi Raikkonen - 35.
10. Nelson Piquet - 27.
11. Nigel Mansell - 20.
12. Mika Hakkinen - 19. Fastest laps after 99 starts
1. Michael Schumacher - 28.
2. Damon Hill - 19.
3. Alain Prost, Kimi Raikkonen - 18.
5. Niki Lauda - 16.
6. Jackie Stewart - 15.
7. Ayrton Senna - 14.
8. Nelson Piquet - 12.
9. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton - 11.
11. Nigel Mansell - 8.
12. Mika Hakkinen - 3. World titles after 99 starts
1. Jackie Stewart - 3.
2. Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso - 2.
6. Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton - 1.
10. Nigel Mansell, Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen - 0. JG