Is Lewis Hamilton better than Michael Schumacher? Our F1 jury debate the GOAT question

Formula One great Damon Hill says one thing puts Lewis Hamilton ahead of Michael Schumacher in the F1 GOAT debate.

His remote control clutched in one hand and multi-coloured parka on, a young Lewis Hamilton punched the air with his fist.

“Nigel Mansell, eat your heart out,” the TV host declared.

If he only knew how accurate — and then some — that statement would become.

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A seven-year-old Lewis Hamilton shows his skill with a remote-controlled car.

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Hamilton was seven years old when he appeared on a British television show, flaunting his early racing skills as he manoeuvred his remote control car to victory in a miniature Grand Prix.

Even then, former world champion Damon Hill said the signs were visible.

“You go back to even when he was very young when he appeared on a children’s TV show in England racing his radio-controlled car,” the Sky Sports Formula One expert said.

“You could see even then this kid was extraordinary.

“He stood out with his abilities controlling this radio controlled car.

“I think he has got a kind of natural talent, which is once every 25 years something like this comes along.”

Fast-forward 28 years from the young boy racing toy cars, and Hamilton has not only eaten the heart out of his fellow Briton and former world champion Mansell, but just about every other driver — and Formula One record — in his wake.

Lewis Hamilton‘s reign at the top of F1 continues.

Hamilton this week staked his claim as Formula One’s greatest driver of all time when he sealed a record-equalling seventh world championship in a Turkish Grand Prix masterclass.

The 35-year-old Mercedes star now sits alongside German great Michael Schumacher as the sport’s all-time champions.

Having already passed Schumacher’s record for Formula One race wins this year, there is little left, statistically at least, for Hamilton to prove other than claiming a record-breaking eighth world title to eclipse the former Ferrari star.

Yet while the numbers don’t lie, there is still debate over who can truly lay claim to being the greatest Formula One driver of all-time.

Many Formula One pundits argue the task is impossible, given the complexities of comparing drivers and the machinery of different eras, considering how much the technology in the sport has advanced over the years.

But comparing the two great drivers of the modern era – Schumacher and Hamilton – is less of a challenge.

We posed the question to a jury of former F1 stars — Damon Hill, Mark Webber and Alan Jones — about Hamilton’s place in the sport’s history and who they rate as the best, Schumacher or the Silver Arrows star.

Hamilton or Schumacher? The experts are split on who is the best.

DAMON HILL (1996 world champion and Sky Sports F1 expert)

Hill argued the debate about who was truly the greatest Formula One driver of all-time could never be answered without all the drivers “together in the same decade”.

But Hill had no doubt as to who he considered to be the better driver between Hamilton and Schumacher.

“As drivers, I have to say I would choose Lewis,” Hill said.

“They are both very different characters and the way they approach their racing has been very different. I think Lewis has been — without wanting to provoke a response — uncontroversial whereas Michael was very controversial in his approach, very aggressive and sometimes a bit dastardly in some of his driving.

“Lewis has pretty much gone about it in a very clean and efficient way and has cleaned up. Lewis is easily in the pack with some of the finest driving and some of the most extraordinary talent we’ve ever seen.”

Hill explained he had not been a fan of Schumacher’s tactics on track.

“I did not approve of some of the tactics of Michael – and not because I was racing against him,” Hill said.

“He was quite an austere character, he was quite an unfriendly character in the paddock. I know he was a different person away from the track and, no doubt a lovely guy to know, but I never got to know him.”

Hamilton has won six of the past seven F1 world championships – all with Mercedes – and his first came with McLaren Mercedes in 2008.

Hill said the team behind Hamilton had been critical in his success, particularly Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who has allowed his star driver the freedom he needed to deliver his best.

“The whole combination has been a match made in heaven, hasn’t it?” Hill said.

“I mean the regulation changes went in the favour of the Mercedes team … they got it right with their power unit and they dominated this hybrid era in its current form.

“Toto Wolff has been a very crucial part in making the team harmonise and keeping peace with the drivers … and saying Lewis needs what he needs to give him his best.

“He has created a space for Lewis in that team … not many team principals understand the drivers very well. Drivers are artists and they need the environment to be right, if you don’t make the environment right, they can’t perform.”

Hill predicted it would be harder for Hamilton to achieve title number eight than seven, but admitted some of his records might never be broken.

“It’s getting almost unassailable,” Hill said.

“If they change the regs so that there is more competition and less easy for a team to dominate an era — because after all we would like to see more competition, no disrespect to Mercedes — it may be we never see this record broken.”

Hamilton has been virtually untouchable in recent years.

MARK WEBBER (Nine-time Grand Prix winner)

For Aussie star Mark Webber, trying to rate the greatest driver from different eras in Formula One was like comparing a “World War II fighter pilot to a fighter pilot today”.

Hamilton, Schumacher, Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss could all be considered in the “top echelon”, he said.

But when he came to the Hamilton v Schumacher debate, Webber was clear on which camp he was in.

“I would take Lewis over Michael,” the former Red Bull star said.

“I am a huge Lewis fan on the racetrack and what he has done there. The determination, the long career that he has had — and having — is, I mean (94) wins it is literally unbelievable that someone can have that win rate.

“(He is) a winning machine.

“There are often so many extremely rare individuals that arrive in any sport with talent, but they don’t use that talent to their potential.

“Lewis has this raw outright speed, he has this tremendous feel for changeable conditions, his race craft, his wheel-to-wheel combat, he is very rarely flustered.”

Webber said Hamilton’s composure separated him from Schumacher on track.

“He has had a target on his back for a long time and that’s one of his biggest strengths is his cool approach to know when enough is enough, when he can’t do anymore and he won’t get desperate,” Webber said.

“That’s when he’s extraordinary, he will not do things out of the ordinary just to go down in flames and lose his moral compass, I think that is one of his best qualities.”

Webber did not agree with arguments Hamilton had only achieved as much as he had in the sport on account of being in the best car.

“There is no one else on the grid, in my opinion, that can do the job that he does in that car,” Webber said.

“These people that say he’s in the best car … they are not educated.”

Hamilton out in front in his Mercedes as been a familiar feature of recent seasons.

ALAN JONES (1980 world champion)

Jones said comparing drivers from different eras, cars and technology was the hardest question to answer in Formula One.

But he gave Schumacher, who won five straight world titles for Ferrari between 2000 and 2004 among his seven crowns, the nod over Hamilton.

“Do you choose one of the basis of races won, championships won or skill and daring that probably didn’t have enough time to achieve or equal these kinds of records?,” Jones said.

“There is no doubt Lewis will go down as one of the all-time great Formula One drivers.

“But if I had to pick one, I’d go for Schumacher.

“Schumacher went to a team that was underperforming and really pulled it all together and dragged it out from being uncompetitive to being extremely competitive. I think that counts for a lot. I would pick him.”

Jones said Schumacher’s aggressive driving style on track made him stand out.

“He was quite aggressive. I didn’t particularly like him as a person, but I liked his style in the car,” Jones said.

“His determination, his win at any cost attitude, I liked all of those things.

“Even though Lewis goes on to probably beat his records, I would still go for Schumacher.”