Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsOpinion

Hamilton already a great - Alonso

40

Fernando Alonso says Lewis Hamilton’s three championships and ability to win without the best car makes him one of Formula One's greats.

Hamilton secured his third drivers’ title courtesy of victory in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, giving him the championship with three races still to run. The success puts Hamilton in esteemed company, leaving him level with Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham and Nelson Piquet.

Asked if Hamilton will go on to become a great or is one already, Alonso replied: “I think he’s one already, I guess.

“Three titles, as Niki has and Ayrton, so we cannot put Lewis in a different level. He’s one of the best in the sport and I think there are more to come so he’s definitely one that we all respect.

“Some ups and downs but the good thing about Lewis is that when he didn’t have the best car he still won some races, maybe not the championship but he was still winning some races in that season and fighting for the championship and that’s not something everyone did.”

And Alonso - who raced alongside Hamilton at McLaren in 2007 - says he rates Hamilton and his fellow competitors by more than the number of titles they have to their name. When asked how many championships Hamilton can win, Alonso said: “That’s difficult to tell.

“It depends a lot in the car. We saw Lewis winning in the second year, and then if he hadn’t gone to Mercedes maybe he could retire even with one title if you do not have the Mercedes. Maybe he can now win six if nobody can beat Mercedes in the next years, so it’s difficult to say but rating a driver [comes down to] much more than a title.”

Hamilton takes title after dramatic USGP victory

Lewis Hamilton: Three-time F1 world champion

United States Grand Prix - Driver ratings

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.