Vettel: “The best? Alonso and Hamilton”

Sebastian Vettel believes Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the two F1 drivers who will become among the best of all time. Speaking to the BBC during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the double world champion explained his admiration for his colleagues.

“There are two that stand out today: Fernando is probably at the top, he is one of the most complete drivers”, said the Red Bull ace. “Lewis is also very, very fast. But there are plenty of other champions. Michael Schumacher is still able to demonstrate his class, I don't think he has lost it and at the moment we have a lot of drivers who are good, the world of F1 is very competitive. It's a long list at the moment and we've had a lot of different winners this season - all those riders are very competitive and very fast.".

Vettel added that the number of titles won by a driver should not be the only parameter used to define his skill: “While successes largely matter in deciding how a champion should be judged, it's not just the victory that matters. If you look at the great names of the past, drivers like Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Jackie Stewart, well they all won several titles.", He insisted. “But there are other names that, without having won like them, remain in your head and are there because they had something more. They were special. All F1 drivers are very fast, but those guys had something that maybe people love: they were very funny, it was special to see them driving and doing tricks with their car. There are a lot of other characters who may not have won the title but are still people's heroes and rightly so.", concluded the German.

Lorena Bianchi