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Lewis Hamilton's achievements are unprecedented in the sport of F1. With more than 100 wins and 100 pole positions to his name, there is no driver in the history of the sport that comes close to the Briton in terms of statistics. There are multiple respected voices in F1 that have termed Hamilton the greatest driver of all time.
F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart, however, is not one of them. Speaking on the Fast Lane podcast, Stewart shared his opinion on why he finds it hard to justify Hamilton as the GOAT. The three-time world champion said:
“I don’t think that you can account [for] that sort of level of success. Just because today there are 20, 22 races, whereas in the old days when for example Juan Manuel Fangio, raced maybe sometimes six, eight or nine races a year in Formula 1. To say that Lewis [Hamilton] is the greatest driver of all time, would be difficult for me to justify, in the sheer power of what the other drivers were doing. Lewis drives extremely well, make no mistake, I’m not in any way diminishing his skills, but it isn’t the same.”
The 82-year-old is of the opinion that the advantage Lewis Hamilton had over the rest of the grid with his superior Mercedes engine was unfair. He said:
“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.”
Sir Jackie Stewart rates Juan Manuel Fangio ahead of Lewis Hamilton
When questioned further on who Sir Jackie Stewart feels is his greatest driver in the sport, he pointed out to five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. He said:
“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 himself was a three-time world champion in F1 and one of the pioneers of safety in the sport. In a way, the 'Flying Scot' is pointing out the obvious in stating that the statistical gap between Lewis Hamilton and others is merely because of the lesser number of races per year when some of the other legends raced.
Having said that, Lewis Hamilton's accomplishments as a seven-time world champion cannot be overlooked as well. He definitely deserves a place on top of the mantle amongst the best to have ever raced in F1.
