F1 boss Brawn: Hamilton and Schumacher share “God given talent”

Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn believes that Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher share a “God given talent” that puts them on another level compared to their rivals.

Hamilton sealed his seventh world title to equal Schumacher’s benchmark that had stood unrivalled since his final championship triumph in 2004 by winning Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix in wet conditions at a slippery Istanbul Park.

Writing in his post-race column for the official Formula 1 website, Brawn, who oversaw all of Schumacher’s title victories at Ferrari before becoming a key figure in prizing Hamilton away from McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, noted what he feels sets the two drivers apart from the rest.

"Massive congratulations to Lewis," Brawn wrote. “He showed why he is such an exceptional talent.

"It was the perfect demonstration of what he is - a seven-time world champion, equalling Michael's record.

"It's the kind of dominance that in most people's motorsport career, you only see once. I've been blessed to see it twice.

"I have been fortunate to work with both Lewis and Michael. They are different characters, which is wonderful, as you don't want metronomic characters in F1.

"Lewis is different to Michael in the way they approach things. At the core of it, they both have a God given talent.”

Brawn said that Hamilton’s victory in Turkey once again demonstrated his abilities to win races in different circumstances and overcome difficult challenges.

"I'm always engaged by the running commentary from Lewis during the race on team radio, suggesting things aren't going well, which is always entertaining," Brawn explained. “But he always delivers.

"In Turkey, despite his Mercedes team struggling for pace all weekend on a slippery surface in cold conditions, he stayed patient in the race, strategised and pushed when needed to. He got the tyres working when no one else could.

"Sunday wasn't an easy win. He didn't put the car on pole and disappear into the distance. It was a challenging weekend for him, regarding the weather, the conditions and the track.

"Clearly, it didn't initially suit Mercedes, but they got their heads down and thought about it. He came from further down the grid. He wins when he's not given any opposition, and he wins when he is given a big challenge.”

And Brawn admitted it is “hard to pick a weakness in Lewis’ armoury”, adding: "He sometimes seems to get emotional on the radio, but the team knows how to handle that through the calmness of his engineer Pete Bonnington.

"Bono doesn't get fazed by anything Lewis says and has a great riposte when he gets too excited. Everyone in that team works so well together.

"Right now, he's at the pinnacle of his career. And I don't know where his form will start to tail off."