Mark Webber: Lewis Hamilton "more complete" than Michael Schumacher

Schumacher has won a record seven Formula 1 titles, but Hamilton could draw level with the German legend this season.

Regardless of whether or not he achieves that feat, Webber says Hamilton has already eclipsed Schumacher in a certain regard.

“I think he’s more complete than Michael,” Webber is quoted as saying.

“I think he went about those results in a technically cleaner executed way, just by the way of wheel-to-wheel combat and no real trickery in his contracts with the other drivers.”

And is Hamilton one of the all-time greats?

“I think he’s certainly up there. I mean, obviously Alain Prost, where do you go with the [Niki] Laudas, the [Jackie] Stewarts, or [Ayrton] Senna?

“Clearly Michael is absolutely in there, he’s got all the records in terms of championships and race victories, but I’m confident that Lewis can give those a red hot go.”

Webber raced against both Schumacher and Hamilton before retiring from the sport in 2013, so is in a good position to judge the drivers.

Hamilton, he says, is an "extraordinary talent” who deserves everything he gets. The Mercedes driver has won the drivers championship in each of the last three seasons.

“On the track he is [Rafael] Nadal and [Roger] Federer-esque,” Webber added. "He just executes, and he does it in a way that is very, very clinical.

“He doesn’t go to the stewards often; when was the last time he was done for speeding in the pit lane?"

The new Formula 1 season gets underway in Melbourne this weekend, but the calendar has already been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak. The Shanghai race, scheduled for April, has been postponed and the Bahrain race will go ahead behind closed doors.