Vettel: Turkish GP win proof Hamilton is the greatest F1 driver of our era

Sebastian Vettel says Lewis Hamilton’s victory at the Turkish Grand Prix highlights why the Briton is the greatest Formula 1 driver of the current era.

Hamilton recovered from sixth on the grid to claim his 94th career victory to secure a seventh drivers’ title.

Hamilton turned in another vintage wet weather performance to take his 10th win in 14 races in 2020.

It appeared Mercedes didn’t have the pace to challenge Racing Point or Red Bull for the victory, but a mammoth stint on the intermediate tyres with superb tyre management allowed Hamilton to claim yet another sensational victory.

Vettel, who was Hamilton’s nearest championship rival in 2017 and 2018, was the first driver to congratulate him in parc ferme.

When asked what did he say to Hamilton after the race, he replied: “Well, I told him it’s very special for us because we can witness history being made today.”

Vettel is a lifelong Michael Schumacher fan and insisted the German “will always be the greatest driver” but was full of praise for what Hamilton has achieved in the sport. 

“He is the greatest of our era for sure. I think it’s always difficult to compare. How can you possibly compare Fangio, Stirling Moss to our generation? You can’t. Maybe we will be useless because we would be all shitting ourselves in those cars.

“Maybe they’d be useless in our cars because they’re way too fast, who knows. It doesn’t matter. I think every driver has its driver or drivers, and Lewis is certainly the greatest of our era. To me certainly, emotionally Michael will always be the greatest driver but there’s no doubt Lewis is the greatest in terms of what he has achieved - he’s equalled the championships, he has more race won, he has a lot more pole positions. I think he’s done everything you can ask for.

“Today is the best proof, it’s a difficult race, a very difficult race to stay on track and two hours long, and probably if we’re honest it wasn’t his race to win and he still won it. I think once again he managed to pull out something special out of that bag and therefore he deserves everything he has achieved.”