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Lewis Hamilton has delivered what appears to be a stinging response to Sir Jackie Stewart by dismissing the negativity surrounding his former drivers accomplishments.
Hamilton won the Eifel Grand Prix on Sunday and in doing so equaled Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 racing victories. He can also match his record of seven championships this season and will almost certainly surpass the legendary German to become the most successful driver in Formula One. However, for some that is not as impressive as it sounds.
Ahead of the Nürburgring race Stewart, who with three titles was Britain’s most successful driver until Hamilton overtook him, said he found it difficult to justify including the 35-year-old among the best of all time, largely because he enjoyed an “unfair” advantage with his Mercedes car.
“I don’t think you should hit anybody for the way they do things,” Hamilton said after Sunday’s race and when his son, Mick, gifted him one of Schumacher’s racing helmets. “I get hit by a lot of people, especially older drivers. I do not know why. Maybe one day they’ll get over it, but I have a lot of respect for past legends, even those who keep talking negatively about me all the time. I still hold them in high regard. It was a different time in history. It was incredibly hard for them.
“There is always talk in sport about who is the greatest, past and present, but it is impossible to compare. It is not important to me “.
Hamilton is in his fourteenth season in F1. The new generation of drivers like Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and George Russell are more than a decade younger than he is and he insists that, unlike Stewart, he will offer nothing but encouragement to younger competitors after he leaves the sport. .
“In 20 years, when I look back, I can promise you this, I am not going to criticize any young driver who is getting ahead and succeeding,” said Hamilton. “Because a responsibility as a senior driver is to shine the light as brightly as possible and encourage them.”
Hamilton has also revealed that he once again enjoys a strong relationship with his father Anthony and praised him for his role in helping him reach such incredible levels of success. Hamilton’s father dedicated his career to supporting his son’s careers and ran him until 2010, when the couple’s relationship broke down and Hamilton fired him.
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Earlier this year, Hamilton admitted that he missed his father-son bond and was trying to reconnect with Anthony; that now appears to have happened to Hamilton after calling his father and stepmother after Sunday’s race.
“My dad and I have never been so close,” Hamilton said. “It’s extraordinary and it makes me so much happier that we talk a lot, which I never thought we would do.
“It has been an emotional roller coaster and it was very difficult for my dad. I can only try to imagine at his age what he was like mentally, what it was like to struggle with work, I can only try to understand how difficult that was. We talked about it a lot and we were together throughout. He was proud of me. “
Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas had to withdraw at the Nürburgring due to a power unit problem and a lack of points has put an end to his championship hopes. Hamilton now leads the Finn by 69 points with six races remaining. If the British driver is 78 points ahead in three races, after the Turkish GP, he will claim that seventh championship.
