Lewis Hamilton is one of F1’s most successful drivers having won the world championship seven times, equal to Michael Schumacher.
He made his debut at McLaren in 2007 and almost won the title that year, before going on to take his first in 2008 at the age of 23 years old.
Marc Priestley worked alongside Hamilton during his time at McLaren, along with some of their other star drivers who won titles or went on to win with other teams.
Speaking on the Fast and the Curious podcast, Priestley believes there is one other driver that he thinks was the ‘most complete’ like Hamilton during his time at McLaren.
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Marc Priestley thinks Fernando Alonso is ‘most complete’ driver alongside Lewis Hamilton
Priestley once revealed that Hamilton would struggle when his relationship with his partner, Nicole Scherzinger, was ‘off’ during the season.
During his first years at McLaren, Hamilton arguably went up against one of his hardest teammates in Fernando Alonso. Priestley believes the Spaniard and Hamilton were two of the most talented drivers he’s worked with at the team.
“From the drivers that I worked with, I’d say that Mika Hakkinen had the same relentless pursuit in looking for tiny gains in everything. He was almost a machine in that regard. I’d say that Fernando Alonso was a very complete F1 driver. I worked with Kimi Raikkonen for years, probably the fastest F1 driver in his peak in the mid-2000s, but he wasn’t the most complete.
“Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are the two most complete drivers I’ve ever worked with, because of their skill in the car, their ability to get a team working well around them, their drive for continual opportunity in looking for success, it’s no surprise they are both still going at this age.”
Lewis Hamilton wants to achieve something last done by Jack Brabham in 1966
Hamilton is looking to become the first driver at 40 years old to win a title since Jack Brabham, having made the switch to Ferrari for the 2025 season.
So far the Briton has struggled to hit the ground running at Ferrari, having to adapt to the new engine braking in the SF-25.
Ferrari have reportedly told Hamilton he needs to brake earlier, as he carries a lot of speed into the corners.
Hamilton is known for his late braking technique, but this can overstress the tyres and lead to overheating on exit.
He will be hoping that Ferrari can produce upgrades to make his car more competitive, while also producing a car that can challenge for the title in 2026 to achieve his goal of winning titles.
