Michael Schumacher holds record that GOAT debate rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen may never match

Michael Schumacher is still miles clear of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in one key Formula 1 statistic, and it could settle the goat debate.

Determining the Formula 1 goat is one of the most ambiguous debates in any sport with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Jim Clarke, Schumacher, Hamilton, and Verstappen all having genuine shouts.

The ambiguity comes from the huge changes to the sport throughout the years, with Clarke, Senna, Schumacher, and Hamilton all dominating in completely different eras.

F1 cars are always evolving, with the cars of today already looking pretty unrecognisable from a decade ago, making it difficult to compare drivers who drove completely different cars.

However, if you are to look at the stats, Hamilton is the man who gets the nod with the most championships (7), most wins (105), most poles (104), and most podiums (202).

Hamilton could have competition for those stats in the near future with Red Bull star Verstappen well on course to threaten the all-time records with four championships, 63 wins, and 112 podiums at just 27 years old.

However, there is one statistic that Schumacher is still well clear of the rest, and it could be argued it's the one stat that shows just how good a driver really is.

As it stands ahead of the 2025 season Schumacher remains the driver to win the most races when not starting on pole position.

The German won 51 of his 91 races from second place or lower, compared to Hamilton's 44 and Verstappen's 30.

With qualifying setting the grid from fastest to slowest, Schumacher theoretically won over 50% of his race wins with a car that wasn't the quickest qualifier.

Michael Schumacher for Ferrari- Getty

However, this can work both ways with some drivers outperforming their car's capabilities in qualifying and having no real chance at victory in the race.

For example, Charles Leclerc's record of 26 poles and eight wins looks rather poor on paper, however, the Ferrari driver has often gone fastest with a car considerably slower over race distance when compared to Red Bull and Mercedes.

Another counter argument could be Hamilton has suffered from his excellent pole position record, giving him less chance to catch Schumacher's tally of 51.

However, both of Hamilton's wins in 2024 weren't from pole position, and with his new teammate Leclerc's excellent qualifying record there could be plenty of opportunities for Hamilton to close the gap in 2025.