Lewis Hamilton is a more naturally talented driver than Michael Schumacher, according to former Mercedes director

Lewis Hamilton has been named the most naturally talented driver over Michael Schumacher by former Mercedes director James Vowles. Vowles is now the principal of Williams and during his stint with the Brackley-based squad, he had worked with multiple world champions.

Vowles had worked with Jacques Villeneuve, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton while working with Mercedes. During that time, Hamilton won six world titles, while Rosberg won the title in 2016. Vowles was talking about the most talented drivers and claimed that in his view, the one that stood out was Lewis.

In the interview with the High-Performance podcast, highlighting the mentality of Lewis Hamilton, Vowles said:

"I struggle to find another sport similar to this where it's a team sport, but it starts by beating your teammate. If you don't beat your teammate, you're in trouble - but that's just one fight. The key behind it is how everyone contributes to this success. With Lewis, he was - and still is today - the most naturally talented driver I've worked with including Michael (Schumacher)."

He added:

"His mentality at the time [when he joined the team] was a brilliant one. It was 'I'm going to win every race at all costs' but if you speak to him today, he accepts that it's the second places and third places that win championships. Working with the team on the days that you can't win the race will give you far more of a reward than pushing everyone away to win a single race out of it."

Comparing Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher's success in F1

Lewis Hamilton, just like Michael Schumacher, is also a seven-time world champion. Having said that, while Schumacher's success in F1 came before he joined Mercedes, Hamilton's success came with the German team. Michael was part of the team from 2010 to 2012, while Lewis replaced him from 2013 onwards and has been an integral part of the team.

During his time at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton has broken many records set by Michael Schumacher in his career. The British driver has won more races and secured more pole positions. To add to this, he's also secured more points. Lewis was on the verge of breaking the record for the most world titles but only lost out in the 2021 F1 title battle in the last race of the season.

Mercedes has certainly an impressive repertoire of drivers over the years, with both seven-time world champions having driven for the team.