Years before winning 7 titles, Lewis Hamilton tipped Sebastian Vettel to become the "greatest driver in F1"

Before Lewis Hamilton won seven F1 world titles and became one of the greatest drivers in the sport's history, Sebastian Vettel was the star in the paddock. The German won four world titles with Red Bull and was one of the most dominant drivers back in 2013. Although Vettel was Hamilton's competitor, the Briton openly praised the four-time world champion.

After Vettel won his fourth world championship at the 2013 F1 Indian GP, Hamilton praised the German and mentioned how he is on the path to becoming one of the greatest drivers in the sport. The Briton was quite happy and congratulated Vettel on his achievement, saying:

"It is an incredible achievement for such a young individual. He is in a class of his own, and he is on his way to becoming the greatest driver in F1, if he is not already. Big congratulations, I'm really happy for him."

Lewis Hamilton also expressed his desire to race Sebastian Vettel and catch him and Red Bull in the future, stating:

"I hope in the future we get to race together, but until then we'll keep trying. He [Vettel] has just got to enjoy it. All the rest of us are trying to catch up and we'll be hunting him down hopefully in the following years."

Of course, this statement came true as the Briton won his second world title with Mercedes the following year in 2014, and the rest was history. Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull faced a downfall as Mercedes continued to dominate the sport for seven years. Lewis Hamilton won six of his seven world titles with the Silver Arrows, becoming one of the greatest drivers in F1 history.

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Lewis Hamilton on Sebastian Vettel's F1 retirement

A few months ago, Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport after the 2022 F1 season. Most drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, had only positive things to say about the German. The seven-time world champion praised Vettel for his humble and polite personality and mentioned how certain qualities of his are hard to find in other drivers.

Speaking in an interview with Channel 4, Hamilton said:

"I'm really grateful and really honoured actually to have the relationship that I do with him. A man that really generally stands by his word, full of integrity, generally just very, very kind and humble, and full of humility. But also compassion, he's one of the only drivers that stands for something. I mean, what other driver has really truly stood for something other than themselves? That's something to be really admired in human beings. We're gonna miss him."

Though Vettel has not betrayed any signs of returning to the sport, Hamilton is quite certain that we will see the German in the paddock again.