Lewis Hamilton won his seven Formula 1 drivers’ championship titles during the same era as Sebastian Vettel, with the duo often sharing a fierce on-track rivalry.
Lewis Hamilton hailed Sebastian Vettel as ‘the best champion he knows’ as he reflected on their intense Formula 1 rivalry.
Red Bull legend Vettel clinched four consecutive titles just before Hamilton embarked on his own long streak of drivers’ championship victories with Mercedes. During that time, the German was a fierce rival at Ferrari with the pair involved in several controversial moments on track.
Despite having equally thrilling battles with Max Verstappen in recent years, as well as Ferrari’s Felipe Massa during his first title-winning campaign, Fernando Alonso at McLaren, and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes, Hamilton believes that Vettel stands out from the rest.
This is not only due to his on-track prowess but also his off-track activities. “Seb is the best world champion that I know because he’s far more than a driver,” Hamilton told a crowd of sponsors in Malaysia during a farewell Mercedes tour ahead of his move to Ferrari.
Vettel has been outspoken about tackling climate change in the latter part of his career, even confessing that the environmental impact of F1 influenced his decision to retire in 2022. Hamilton added: “He’s someone with real passion, he’s empathetic and he cares for people. He actually is the only other one that’s tried to utilise his platform for something good.
“I’ve met so many celebrities and so many people. There’s a lot of people that don’t take time for others. I think, for me, that makes me… it doesn’t matter how well he drives, he’s so quick anyway, we had great races together. But I think for me, we had the best races together,” reports the Express.
Only three racers in F1 history, Hamilton, Verstappen and Michael Schumacher, have more Grand Prix wins than Vettel’s 53, who enjoyed his prime years between 2010 and 2013 with Red Bull. The now-37-year-old also claimed victories during that six-season spell with Ferrari, and spent the final two years of his career battling in the midfield with Aston Martin.
Previous comments show that Hamilton has all the respect for Vettel and it is vice versa too. When Hamilton matched Schumacher’s record of seven F1 world championships in 2020, Vettel was among the first to congratulate a rival that he considers a friend.
‘It’s his day,’ he said if making history like that.’ These are actually the first thinks that come into mind really. It’s a massive achievement. This is something I am glad to see for myself. I believe every era has their driver or their drivers and Lewis… definitively he is the, one of the greatest of our generation.
Hamilton is still planning to continue his farewell tour before joining the Ferrari team next year after his trip to Malaysia. He will later fly to Germany to Mercedes-Benz factory to take a word with those who work there before he heads back to the England-based race team for physical fare well to the Brackley and Brixworth teams.