F1 | Hamilton, for Stewart, is not the best of all time

Lewis Hamilton is now one step away from equaling Michael Schumacher's record of 91 victories (it could happen on Sunday with the triumph in the Eifel GP, ed.) and seven world titles, with the Englishman who is rewriting pages race after race of Formula One history. Speaking about the reigning world champion, Sir Jackie Stewart admitted that he doesn't consider the Mercedes standard bearer the best ever.

For the three-time world champion, in fact, the victories of past drivers had greater significance, also considering the smaller number of races they had available and the differences between single-seaters were less marked than the current one.

"Juan Manuel Fangio is in my mind the greatest driver, with Jim Clark second also ahead of Senna – Stewart said on the In the Fast Lane podcast – But those people only raced six, eight or nine races a year in Formula 1. They drove sports cars, GT cars and more. Now Lewis Hamilton, or one of the other contenders, contests 22 races in Formula 1 alone".

Stewart, continuing the comparison between Hamilton and the champions of the past, added: “The pressure today is much calmer. Obviously they go to the factory and the simulator, but it's not quite the same. It's a different world. Lewis drives very well, make no mistake. I am in no way belittling his abilities. But that's not the same thing. Fangio was truly extraordinary, he would have chosen Ferrari and then thought: 'Well Maserati could be good next year', so he never signed more than a year's contract. He drove for Mercedes-Benz and won two championships with them, because they were the best cars in the world at that time. Lewis made a very good decision when he left McLaren at that time and went to Mercedes. I take my hat off to his decision. But frankly, the car and engine are now so superior to the rest of the pack".

Completing his analysis he said: “To say that Lewis is the greatest of all time would be difficult for me to justify, given what other purely talented riders have done.".