"He has, in a way, laid the foundations for Lewis' records"

The former vice-president of Mercedes motorsport activities Norbert Haug has attempted to compare the performance of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton . Both World Champions currently stand at the same number of F1 victories, 91.

Difference would be a few thousandths

How do Schumacher and Hamilton compare with each other? It is a question that is relevant as the drivers can both write a gigantic number of 91 victories behind their names. At the same time, it is also a question that can never really be answered in F1. However, Haug takes the trouble to compare the German and the British driver and comes up with some striking conclusions.

In conversation with Motorsport.com, the German journalist said: "If they had both driven against each other in the prime of their lives, there would probably only have been a few thousandths of a second between them."

Mutual respect between Hamilton and Schumacher

"Both drivers also have the greatest possible respect for each other,"  Haug continued. " That's good to see. I've never caught one of them saying a bad word about the other."

Haug admitted he doesn't think there is much difference in mentality between the two: "All kinds of pictures on Instagram really don't produce fast lap times. They ' re both perfectionist, always asking questions and always want a very long debrief. That's why they can also get on your nerves. "

Schumacher laid the foundations for Hamilton

Haug also stressed that the rumors that the seven-time world champion was worked out by Mercedes in 2012 were not true. Few of the rumors from the F1 world actually seem to be true, and that also counts for this case too.

"Nobody retired him," Haug concluded. " It was a structured process. In a way, he laid the foundations for Lewis' records."