Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton extended his lead in the F1 Drivers’ Standings to 69 points on Sunday, when he matched Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Formula One grand prix victories.
Team-mate Valtteri Bottas admitted it will take a miracle to stop Hamilton from winning his seventh Championship – which will be another record the Brit will share with Schumacher.
READ: Hamilton Equals Schumacher’s Win Record To Extend Championship Lead
However, many F1 fans and former drivers have been quick to downplay Lewis Hamilton’s achievements, with many saying they don’t consider him to be the greatest driver of all-time.
For example, earlier this month, Jackie Stewart said he doesn’t consider Hamilton to be one of the top three drivers to have raced in Formula One.
After winning the Eifel GP, Hamilton took aim at his critics:
“There’s a lot of talk, in all sport, of the greatest past and present, but it’s impossible to compare people.
“It’s different times – we are evolving as human beings. If you put all the top drivers that have been the most successful in the sport and put them in the same cars, wouldn’t that be something?
“But all the talk of who is and who’s not, that’s not important to me. What’s important is the journey in this time and while I’ve been here,” Hamilton added.
“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do, how I’ve navigated through, definitely made lots of mistakes, but that’s life, we all do that.
“I think yes, you can be definitely remembered for having the most [wins and titles] and that will be something special to have, but as I said, it’s the journey.
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“It’s what we’ve done along the way, it’s obstacles you’ve faced, and everyone’s got a different journey and a different way of doing things.
“I don’t think you should knock anybody for the way you do things. I get knocked by many people, particularly older drivers.
“They still have a bee in their bonnet, I don’t know why, maybe they’ll get over it one day.
“I have so much respect for the past legends, even though they do continue to talk negatively about me all the time.
“But I still hold them in high regard as I know it was so difficult at a different time in history, it was incredibly tough for them, they remain legends.”
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