Within recent times, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has shared his absolute amazement as to why his lead driver Lewis Hamilton isn't being appreciated as much as he should within his home nation. 

Hamilton is regarded, within the Formula 1 world, as possibly the greatest British driver to ever grace the track in terms of accolades and achievements. However, Wolff pointed out that the Mercedes man and five-time world champion still receives his fair share of criticism. 

“In general in the United Kingdom, Lewis is not recognised how he should be recognised,” said Wolff.

“One day he’s going to stop his career, with multiple records, and people will say ‘he was the greatest driver on the planet and we were witnesses of that journey, and wasn’t he an interesting personality with all the things he did?’.

“But for whatever reason, there is this idea of hitting out, which maybe it provides the better headline, maybe it sells more newspapers, or gives more clicks.

“I don’t think it recognises the opportunity that we are part of, to see maybe the best driver that has ever existed on an exceptional journey.”

Following a successful season last time out, Hamilton has fired out of the blocks with great acceleration during the 2019 season, with the Brit leading the individual Drivers' Championship by more than 30 points. 

Mercedes already appear to have one hand on the Constructors' Championship title with Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas occupying first and second within the standings. Whereas, Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari seems to be somewhat off the pace as the German trails in third. 

Nevertheless, leading on Wolff's comments, Hamilton could possibly be on the verge of cementing himself in Formula 1 history books in the near future. The 34-year-old is currently chasing down a multitude of Michael Schumacher's records, with his total race wins likely to be the first that Hamilton claims. 

The German legend currently possesses 91 race wins throughout his career, while Hamilton currently has 75 victories to his name. Furthermore, Schumacher currently leads the way for championship wins, with seven, however, Hamilton appears to look on course to grab the sixth title of his career.

Nevertheless, after topping the French Grand Prix, the 34-year-old will be looking ahead to Austria where he looks to secure his seventh race win of the campaign.