Formula 1’s Motorsport Director Ross Brawn has praised Lewis Hamilton in the wake of the Mercedes driver clinching the 2018 title at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Hamilton opened an insurmountable points advantage over Sebastian Vettel to join Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to have won five world titles.
Brawn was part of Mercedes’ management set-up during the first year of Hamilton’s career with the team in 2013, and lauded the 33-year-old’s achievements in the sport.
"It’s hard to know how to congratulate Lewis for his fifth world title,” said Brawn.
“It puts him level with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and that’s simply incredible.
“It’s also hard to find a sportsman in any other field who has achieved so much in so short a space of time.
“This is Lewis’ 12th season in Formula 1 and he’s won the title in almost half of them, which is truly amazing.
“It’s always hard to draw comparisons, but this was maybe the hardest won of all his titles.”
Brawn worked with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari and believes Hamilton shares the German’s trait of being able to pull off unexpected wins.
“This year Mercedes faced stern opposition, again from a Ferrari car that was usually more competitive, as indeed was the case in Mexico,” said Brawn.
“To take the title with two races remaining is even more impressive, with Lewis supported by an equally brilliant team.
“If I had to choose one characteristic that makes Lewis special, it’s his ability to win so many races in which he wasn’t the favourite, as we saw several times this year – in Hockenheim, Budapest and Monza to name but a few.
“Of course, he also won those in which he was deemed to be the man most likely to win. It’s a characteristic he shares with the only driver to have won more titles than him – Michael Schumacher.
“Lewis was already part of Formula 1’s history and now he is truly a legend of the sport.”
