McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown remarkably snubbed Lewis Hamilton during a video on the team’s YouTube channel, when asked who his all-time Formula 1 idol is.
When it comes to the statistics, Hamilton is the greatest driver of all-time, having claimed more wins, pole positions and podiums than any other driver.
As well as that, the 38-year-old is tied with Michael Schumacher on seven world titles, something which most expect will never be eclipsed.
Nevertheless, Brown’s favourite F1 driver or all-time is three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, who is also Hamilton’s hero.
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Several drivers such as the likes of Hamilton and Schumacher viewed Senna as a hero, with him having likely claimed more titles had he not been taken from the world so soon.
In Brown’s eyes, Senna isn’t only the greatest F1 driver of all-time but is also “McLaren’s most famous racing driver”.
This is a double shot at Hamilton, who competed for McLaren from 2007 – when he entered the championship as a rookie – until the end of 2012, before moving to Mercedes in 2013.
Hamilton entered 110 races for the Woking-based outfit and won 21 of them, whilst he also claimed the 2008 Drivers’ Championship.
In fact, Brown doesn’t even rank Hamilton amongst the top-three greatest F1 drivers of all-time, with him putting two-time World Champion Mika Hakkinen and 1978 World Champion Mario Andretti just below Senna in second and third.
“It’s gotta be Ayrton Senna,” Brown told McLaren’s official YouTube channel.
“Three-time world champion, in my opinion McLaren’s most famous racing driver. He was awesome, never met him but wish I would have.
“A close runner-up would be Mika Hakkinen, two-time world champion at McLaren, and Mario Andretti because he’s won Indy and Formula 1.”
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Senna was incredible at McLaren, with the Brazilian having raced for the British side from 1988 until the end of 1993, prior to his switch to Williams.
In that time, Senna won 35 of the 96 races he started, whilst all three of his Drivers’ Championships came when with the team (1988, 1990 and 1991).
The F1 legend will forever be a huge part of McLaren and who the team are today.