London, July 30 British Formula One great Nigel Mansell has tipped defending champion Lewis Hamilton to break Michael Schumacher's all-time record of most F1 titles. Six-time champion Hamilton is just one championship behind Schumacher, who won seven F1 titles during the course of his illustrious racing career.
Mansell, who won his only F1 championship in 1993, feels Hamilton has 'capitalised' on Mercedes coming up with incredible cars year after year, something which Schumacher did with Ferrari in the early 2000s.
"I don't think there is any question (Hamilton will take the record). And that is not to belittle the talent Michael (Schumacher) had because when he was at Ferrari, Michael won three world championships with reliability alone," Mansell said while speaking on The Gary Newbon Sports Show with Jewson as per Daily Mail.
"All the other manufacturers had not caught up with Ferrari so their cars were still breaking down.
"Lewis, (Valtteri) Bottas and you have to say the Silver Arrow Mercedes have just done an outstanding job year after year and Lewis has been fortunate to have capitalised on it. I predicted this years ago, it is fantastic what he has achieved," he added.
Hamilton has started the season on a fine note once again as he has so far won two out of the first three races. After finishing fourth in Austrian GP, he registered victories in Styrian GP and Hungarian GP.
The Brit has already opened up a five-point gap in the driver's standings as he has accumulated 63 points while his Mercedes teammate Bottas is at second with 58 points. Max Verstappen completes the top-three with 33 points.
Hamilton will get a chance to extend his lead at the top when he takes to the iconic Silverstone circuit in his home country on August 2. Hamilton, who is a record six-time champion at the venue, will be starting as favourites once again. Mansell himself won the British GP four times during his racing days.
( With inputs from IANS )