“Lewis Hamilton is the greatest Formula One champion there has ever been”. This strange statement came from the some would say equally strange chief executive of Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone.
It turns out Ecclestone was referring to the driver’s ability to promote the sport as well as his talent in the car rather than any comparison with acknowledged greats like Schumacher, Senna, Prost, Stewart, Fangio et al.
Ecclestone said: “Lewis has been the best world champion we’ve had. Apart from the fact he’s talented, he’s a good guy, he gets out on the street and supports and promotes Formula One.”
When someone pointed out that Hamilton sometimes spoke impulsively, Ecclestone replied: “It doesn’t matter, it’s always good whatever he says, even if it’s silly. It’s great for the sport.
“I told Sebastian [Vettel – a 4-time world champion to Hamilton’s two]: ‘You should be doing what he’s doing.’ Doing the job of world champion. He was the champion and got paid money for that, and these guys think their only job is racing a racing car. It goes a bit further than that.
“What these guys don’t think about is that today Jackie Stewart is still making quite a bit of money and he hasn’t been in a car for quite a few years. It works because he’s looked after his image and he still does a good job. Perhaps these guys think when they stop ‘that’ll be it.’”
Ecclestone’s comments came on the Friday before Vettel relegated him to second place behind the Ferrari he was only driving in its second race on Sunday. They rounded off a mixed day for Hamilton, who topped the Friday afternoon practice session despite having his running severely restricted by engine problems.
“Whenever you lose a session – and pretty much half of the second – it definitely doesn’t help,” he said. “But the team did a great job to rebuild the car and that was crucial.”
Despite Sunday’s reverse, Hamilton still leads the FIA Drivers’ World Championship with 43 points to Vettel’s 40. Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s teammate and probably still his chief rival for this year’s drivers’ title, is third with 33 points. So far, these three have shared the podium on both races so far.
In the next few days, Hamilton is expected to sign the dotted line on a new contract with Petronas Mercedes AMG worth between £27m and £30m per year according to insiders. This excludes any personal sponsorship and other commercial deals. Mr Ecclestone’s claim may not be so strange after all.
