Lewis Hamilton has paid tribute to Michael Schumacher in a new German documentary about the Ferrari legend, labelling the fellow seven-time F1 world champion as simply a “full out great racer.”
Hamilton raced in Formula 1 against Schumacher for three years when the German came out of retirement in 2010. The Brit then replaced the German at Mercedes following the 2012 season.
Now, Hamilton has contributed to an upcoming documentary to air in Germany, titled Being Michael Schumacher, nearly 10 years since Schumacher suffered a near-fatal injury during a skiing accident in Meribel, France.
Hamilton also referenced Schumacher’s victory at Imola in 1994, on the day his hero Ayrton Senna tragically died following a crash.
“A full out great racer,” said Hamilton, in tribute to Schumacher.
“He won the race when Ayrton died. [He was just] winning everything!”
Hamilton and Schumacher hold the record for the most Formula 1 world championships with seven apiece.
In the same documentary, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso also lauded how Schumacher changed the way drivers approached Formula 1 and their preparation for races.
“I lost more against him than I won!” said the Spaniard, who claimed his two world titles at Renault in 2005 and 2006 during Schumacher’s final years at Ferrari.
“He is an incredible driver, he was an inspiration for all the drivers of my generation when we were in karting and in the junior formulas to see Michael dominating the sport.
“He did change the way of approaching racing, physical preparation, determination, work ethic into the weekend with the engineers, a lot of things in the sport changed because of Michael – for the better.”
Schumacher’s wife Corinna has insisted on protecting his privacy since the accident in December 2013. He has not been seen publicly since, with his medical condition shrouded in secrecy as he continues to recover at home.
Being Michael Schumacher, a German-language five-part series, airs only in Germany on 14 December on ARD’s media library.
