Three-time Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart has said he doesn’t consider Lewis Hamilton to be one of the top three drivers in the history of the sport, despite him being in a strong position to win his seventh F1 title this year.
Speaking on the In The Fast Lane podcast, Stewart said: “Lewis drives extremely well, make no mistake, I’m not in any way diminishing his skills, but it isn’t the same.
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“Lewis made a very good decision when he left McLaren at that time and went to Mercedes-Benz. And I take my hat off to him for making that decision. But frankly, the car and the engine are now so superior that it’s almost unfair on the rest of the field.”
He went on to say that “Juan Manuel Fangio, in my mind, is the greatest driver that’s ever lived with Jim Clark as the second-greatest, even ahead of [Ayrton] Senna.”
Stewart also stressed that some of the most talented racing drivers fail to win a World Championship simply because they never have a car that’s strong enough.
“Some of the best racing drivers in the world, I saw. Stirling Moss was certainly one of them and he never won a world championship because he never drove the right cars, he always went to drive British teams, that sort of thing. So it’s difficult to put that in proper terms.”
Hamilton could equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 F1 victories at this weekend’s Eifel Grand Prix, and he’s also on course to match the German’s tally of seven World Championships this year.
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