Brawn: Hamilton broke through 'surreal level', like Schumacher and Senna

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F1 sporting manager Ross Brawn believes Lewis Hamilton has now established a new reference in F1, just like Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna did back in their winning times.

Hamilton conquered his fifth world title in 2018, winning 11 of the season's 21 races after a close-fought battle with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

The Mercedes driver's post-summer run was particularly impressive, with six victories from eight races and a performance in qualifying in Singapore - where he wasn't expected to be on pole - that astonished Brawn.

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"Sometimes you get a driver who finds the performance you just don’t expect," Brawn told Motorsport.com.

"There are a couple of occasions, particularly in qualifying, when Lewis did that.

"He just took people’s breath away. Those are the things you look at, and you just don’t know where the performance comes from."

For Brawn, Hamilton's ability to push the envelope brought back memories of two F1 legends who also extended the limits of what appeared as possible.

"Everyone thinks they know what the reference is and suddenly the driver does something that changes the reference.

"I was fortunate to see that sometimes in Michael Schumacher. We saw it with drivers like [Ayrton] Senna. And I think we saw that on a couple of occasions with Lewis this year.

"Those are the things you remember because as an engineer, you almost can’t work out where it's come from.

"It’s like a surreal level that they’ve reached and that's always very special when you see a driver do that."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.