Lewis Hamilton and the "300-race" club curse: Can he beat it? 

Lewis Hamilton will be joining the "300-race" club this weekend and will become only the sixth driver in the history of Formula 1 to have 300 race starts. The Mercedes driver made his debut in F1 in 2007 with McLaren and has been one of the more prominent personalities in the paddock since then. Completing 300 race starts is a hallmark of his longevity in the sport and his fitness, as the Mercedes driver has shown no signs of slowing down.

Having said that, there is this one unfortunate statistic that comes with crossing that 300-race-start threshold. This was something that was even mentioned to Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' press conference by Sky F1's David Croft. None of the drivers that have crossed the 300-race-start mark in their career have won a race since crossing the '300-race' threshold. It's almost as if the "300-race" club is a "curse" for these drivers. Let's take a look at what happened to the other drivers in this club once they crossed the 300-race-start mark.

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What happened to the other members of the '300-race' club?

#1 Kimi Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen crossed the "300-race" mark in 2019 with Alfa Romeo. By the time the Finnish driver had crossed this milestone, he was in the latter stages of his career and in a midfield team. This in turn meant that getting the kind of results he was used to getting in his early career was just not possible. The Iceman scored his last win in the 2018 F1 US GP with Ferrari.

#2 Fernando Alonso

This is one driver you cannot count out yet! The last time Fernando Alonso stood at the top of the podium was almost a decade ago. Since then, the driver has toiled hard in midfield and backmarker cars and has been unable to replicate the kind of success he enjoyed early in his career. At 40 years old, it's highly unlikely that the Spaniard will get an opportunity to score a win, but if the 2022 F1 Canadian GP front row tells you anything, it is that you cannot count out the Spaniard.

Even though the last time Alonso won a race was with Ferrari in the 2013 F1 Spanish GP, you might see him pull something out of the hat in whatever time is left in his career. Unless, of course, the curse strikes again.

#3 Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello crossed the "300-race" mark while driving for Williams. Unfortunately, unlike the early stages of his career where Williams was a force to be reckoned with, when Barrichello joined the team, it was just a midfield team. His last win was in 2009 with the Brawn GP. He never had an opportunity after that to replicate the success he enjoyed with Ferrari in the early 2000s.

#4 Jenson Button

Jenson Button was one of the more likable drivers in F1, but after redeeming himself early in his McLaren partnership with Lewis Hamilton in 2011, things took a turn for the worse in 2013. The 2013 season was the year McLaren dropped from being a frontrunner to a midfield team in 2013 and 2014.

The Honda partnership turned McLaren into a backmarker as things got even worse. Through all of this, Button rallied on with the team until his retirement but could not even sniff a win after crossing that 300-race mark.

#5 Michael Schumacher

It might be surprising to find one of the GOATs of the sport on this list, but the curse spares no one. Michael Schumacher's career can be divided into two phases. The first phase was of Michael Schumacher building his own legacy and being the gold standard in the sport. This phase ended when Michael Schumacher retired at the end of the 2006 F1 season.

The second phase started when Michael Schumacher returned and drove for Mercedes from 2010 to 2012. During this phase, the German had crossed 40 yrs of age and was past his peak. He had minimal success as he only secured a single podium with the team in those three years. Ironically, the same team transformed into a race-winning machine in 2013 and a juggernaut in 2014; Mercedes dominated the Turbo-Hybrid era. However, things did not click until Schumacher had already retired from the sport for the second and final time.

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Can Lewis Hamilton beat the curse?

There is a theme to the curse if you look at it carefully and that theme is the fact that most of these drivers were in the last legs of their careers. Because of that, they were past their prime and did not have the machinery under them to challenge for a win or a podium for that matter.

Unlike any of these drivers, Lewis Hamilton is not past his peak yet. Arguably, the 2021 F1 season from Lewis Hamilton is considered by many to be the best overall season of his career. He might be 37 years old, but he is still one of the best drivers on the grid. More importantly, unlike Fernando Alonso, the seven-time world champion is with a top team that is capable of fighting for the championship when everything is in order.

Fernando Alonso, in a recent interview, said that sometimes fans don't understand the role machinery plays in success. He is obviously not wrong. In F1, if one wants success, two checkboxes need to be ticked off: the first being a driver's skill to achieve a strong result, and the second being that one has a machinery that allows one to compete. Unlike his fellow "300-race" club members, Lewis Hamilton has both of them.

Can Lewis Hamilton beat the curse? We say he can and he might even get it done this weekend if things work out for Mercedes. But in case Lewis Hamilton doesn't, you know what to blame it on: the curse.