Ralf Schumacher hits out at the ‘nonsense’ Lewis Hamilton accusation he’s heard

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Ralf Schumacher has revealed the accusation he often faces for believing that Michael Schumacher is F1’s greatest driver of all time over Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen.

The debate about the greatest F1 driver of all time can never be 100% justified owing to the challenges of comparing legends from every era since the series began in 1950. But Michael Schumacher and Hamilton are viewed as two of the best as the only seven-time champions.

Hamilton is statistically the most-successful F1 driver, having scored a record 105 Grand Prix wins, 104 pole positions and 202 podiums so far. Ralf Schumacher also notes how some see Hamilton as an eight-time F1 champion given Verstappen controversially won the 2021 title.

Verstappen has also started to force his way into the conversation in recent seasons, having won the F1 drivers’ championship each year from 2021 until 2024. The Dutchman even lost out on the 2025 title by only two points, as Lando Norris lifted his first championship crown.

‘Nonsense’ to say Ralf Schumacher envies Lewis Hamilton for believing Michael Schumacher is the GOAT

Norris’ 2025 F1 title win even denied Verstappen the chance to join Schumacher as the only driver to ever win the title in five successive seasons. Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton also set personal-best runs of four titles in a row from 2010 to ‘13 and from 2017 to ‘20 respectively.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Michael Schumacher, from F1 career to net worth

Ralf Schumacher “couldn’t care less” that Verstappen came close to replicating his brother’s run of five successive titles, as Michael Schumacher will forever be the greatest F1 driver to him. Ralf also finds it “nonsense” to feel he envies Hamilton for not thinking he is the GOAT.

The younger Schumacher brother told F1-Insider: “You can’t compare these things. Michael was and remains the best driver of his time. Of course, the world moves on, new drivers come along. I didn’t care about that with Lewis Hamilton, and I don’t care about Max, either.

“I’ve often been accused of envy, especially by the English, with the argument that Hamilton theoretically has eight titles and is better than Michael. That’s complete nonsense. Every driver who is as successful as Hamilton and Verstappen absolutely deserves it.”

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have never transformed an F1 team like Michael Schumacher did at Ferrari

The debate concerning which driver is the greatest to ever race in F1 will always rumble on, and fans of each contender will also often tend to champion the racer whom they followed closest during their careers. Fans and critics alike even focus on certain strengths and flaws.

READ MORE: How Max Verstappen’s first 10 F1 seasons compare with Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton’s

Name the worst F1 driver among these four

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But Michael Schumacher has one arrow in his quiver that Hamilton and Verstappen are yet to merit. The German won his first two titles with Benetton in 1994 and ‘95, before he then helped to turn Ferrari into the dominant force and won the title each year from 2000 to ‘04.

Ferrari had not won the drivers’ championship since 1979 before Schumacher returned the pride of Italy to the top of the Formula 1 summit. The Scuderia had also not won the teams’ title since 1983 before Schumacher helped them win the title each year from 1999 to 2004.

Hamilton also boasts titles with two teams, having won his first with McLaren in 2008 before winning with Mercedes in 2014, ‘15, ‘17, ‘18, ‘19 and ‘20. But while the Silver Arrows were a midfield team until Hamilton arrived, he won as they mastered the 2014 engine regulations.

Verstappen has also only ever had success with Red Bull, and most of his successes to date came due to how Red Bull mastered the ground-effect regulations from 2022 to ‘25. He also fought lower calibres driver for most of his four titles than Schumacher and Hamilton faced.