Hill: "You think they can be beaten but they can't"

It is an eternal discussion: who is the best driver? If you look at the stats, it seems Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are battling for supremacy. Damon Hill also sees these two gentlemen as great champions who are 'seldom born'.

Hamilton equalled Schumacher in the number of victories and is set to join the German on seven titles later this year. There is very little room for such dominance in Formula 1. It has now happened twice in the last two decades. Ferrari was supremely powerful with Schumacher behind the wheel and Mercedes has done the same with Hamilton.

Like Federer and Nadal

It is clear that Hamilton and Schumacher are legends in Formula 1, but how does such a thing come about? How do you recognise a great champion? "Champions of Lewis and Michael's level are very rarely born. How do you understand that they are special? The fact that when they arrive in F1 everyone stands up their antennas, they are incredulous at what they combine and a particular excitement arises in the environment," says Hill.

Hill is a former world champion but doesn't see himself the way he sees Schumacher and Hamilton: "In my case, it didn't happen... They have something magical. You think they can be beaten but they can't. They are human, of course, but if you don't have their natural gift you have to find something deep inside you: sometimes you can put them behind you, but it's always impossible. Because they know how to fish in the reserves of talent they have, like Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer in tennis," concludes the Englishman with La Gazzetta dello Sport.