Lewis Hamilton picks 4x F1 champion as the "most all-around driver" he has come across

Lewis Hamilton has picked Sebastian Vettel as the most all-around driver he's ever come across, not only because of his driving prowess but also because of his human side. The 7x F1 champion was a fierce rival of the 4x F1 champion throughout their career, and the two battled against each other for multiple titles.

When Sebastian Vettel was at Red Bull and won the championship from 2010 to 2013, Lewis Hamilton was at McLaren at the time and was one of his key competitors. From 2014, the dynamics changed with the V6 Turbo era.

Lewis Hamilton had the marauding power unit from Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel was essentially no match while driving for Ferrari. At that point, the relationship between the duo was essentially that of rivals, and it was only from 2019 onwards that it started to change.

During Sebastian Vettel's farewell, Lewis Hamilton was one of the closer friends on the grid. In a segment recorded with ESPN, Lewis Hamilton was questioned about the German and how he rated him, to which he termed him the most all-around driver he's come across. He said,

"I have an amazing relationship with Sebastian. For me, out of all the drivers that I've come across in my career, he for me is the most all-around driver. And when I talk about an all-around driver, I mean as a human being. Someone that has empathy. Someone that understands. That's super, super competitive. But [can] put that aside. He understands people. He understands that there's a much bigger picture than just us."

He added,

"And there's no 'me, me, me' with him. It's about bringing people together. And I love that he's utilizing his platform. He stood by me through quite an intense time. And he's doing great things today. And he's got a beautiful family. And we stay in touch. And he supports me through my weekends. He sends me texts. And yeah, I'm forever grateful for the relationship."

Lewis Hamilton reflects on the first day of running in the F1 Mexican GP

Lewis Hamilton didn't have the best of Fridays in the F1 Mexican GP FP2. The driver sat out of FP1 as Antonio Fuoco took over. Looking back at the run, the British driver wasn't too happy as he said,

"I'm surprised at how close we are, given it doesn't feel great at all. There's little grip and the car is sliding a lot. Slippery... and that's never fun in Formula 1. The long-term balance isn't disastrous, but we need to find more with the tires, and I know there's more pace in the car. I don't know exactly where they lost time, but I'm sure they'll find good pace tomorrow."

Hamilton has won twice at the F1 Mexican GP, with the last win coming in 2019. It would be interesting to see how he fares at the track as he tries to break his podium duck.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli