Hamilton Names Vettel Greatest Rival After Fans Reject First Response

Friday, 13 December 2024 at 12:01

Lewis Hamilton named former F1 driver and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel as his greatest rival.

The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton finished in P4, was his final race weekend with Mercedes. All that is left for him to do after that is to complete his farewell tour, visiting major sponsors and Mercedes factories to say final goodbye to everyone.

During his first stop in Kuala Lumpur at Petronas (Mercedes's biggest sponsor), the seven-time world champion was asked on stage who his greatest F1 rival was. The 39-year-old said:

"My greatest rival is myself. I'm always chasing myself further up ahead."

However, the crowd did not accept this response at all, and after loud outrage, Hamilton understood he had to give the name of one of his opponents.

"In terms of other drivers that I've competed against, what I base a competitor, is not just what they do on the track, it's how they engage with their team, so for me, Sebastian Vettel."

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"He's the best world champion that I know because he's far more than a driver."

Sebastian Vettel won four consecutive championship titles in the years 2010-2013. He and the Mercedes driver had their biggest rivalry in 2017 and 2018. In both instances, it was Hamilton who came out on top and won the Championship title.

"He's someone with real passion, he's empathetic, and he cares for people. He actually is the only other one that's tried to utilize his platform for something good."

"I've met so many celebrities and so many people. There's a lot of people that don't take time for others."

"I think, for me, that makes me... it doesn't matter how well he drives, he's so quick anyway. We had great races together. But I think, for me, we had the best races together."