Lewis Hamilton has picked Sebastian Vettel as the best world champion that he knows, earmarking the German as the driver who has used his platform for something good. The 7x world champion had raced with the 4x world champion throughout their careers.

The two had a lot of battles for the title as well, with Sebastian Vettel racing against Lewis Hamilton and winning the titles in 2010 and 2012. The British driver returned the favor to the German by winning the title in 2017 and 2018.

The two drivers were fierce rivals throughout their careers, but by the end of it, their friendship started to grow.

In a recent farewell appearance for Mercedes title sponsor Petronas, Hamilton specifically mentioned Vettel as the driver who was the best world champion he knew because of what he’d done off-track as well. He said:

“Seb is the best world champion that I know because he’s far more than a driver. 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 utilise his platform for something good.”
He added:

“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- doesn’t matter how good he drives, he’s so quick anyways, we had great races together. But I think for me, we had the best races together.”
Vettel retired from the sport in 2022 after spending a couple of years with Aston Martin. The German has been rumored to make a comeback with the Porsche motorsport program for LeMans, but it remains to be seen if he’ll commit to something like that.

Lewis Hamilton on leaving Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton was quite emotional once the race was done in Abu Dhabi and his departure from Mercedes became a reality. Once the race ended and he parked the car, the driver sat there for a moment before coming out. Talking to BBC afterwards, he said:

“Each moment I have known it was one of the last and it has been really clear and really hard to let go. When I stopped the car. I wanted to embrace the moment. Representing Mercedes has been the greatest moment of my life. Just giving thanks, my own spirit for not giving up, everyone the power to have built that car. I am proud of everyone.”
With the Mercedes chapter coming to an end, Lewis Hamilton’s next chapter with Ferrari begins in 2025, and the driver has a massive challenge waiting for him in the coming year. He would be teamed up with Charles Leclerc, one of the best drivers in F1 and one of the younger talents on the grid.

Edited by Luke Koshi