Who is the best F1 driver ever? "He gets better when his car goes faster"

Lewis Hamilton can achieve his seventh Formula 1 World Championship in Turkey. If he manages to finish above Valtteri Bottas on the circuit in Istanbul, he will match Michael Schumacher's record. This will reignite the discussion about the best F1 driver ever. Giedo van der Garde thinks Hamilton has a chance of claiming this.

"The funny thing about Lewis is that he gets better when his car goes faster too," explains Van der Garde to De Telegraaf. The Dutchman has a lot of experience racing against the Brit and still sees him growing. "He was already strong in the lower classes, but he really started to excel in Formula 2 and Formula 1."

Racing against Schumacher and Hamilton

Where Hamilton made his debut in 2007, Van der Garde had to wait until 2012 before he could participate in the free practice sessions for Caterham. That was also in Schumacher's last year at Mercedes before Hamilton moved there. "At the time, it didn't really matter to me who I had to drive against, as long as I was allowed to drive. If you look back on it now, it's special."

In his teens, Van der Garde was already driving against Schumacher, Hamilton and Rosberg. In a karting race in 2001, when Schumacher became world champion for the fourth time, the Dutchman took part in a karting race on Schumacher's track in Kerpen.

"That was really huge. I remember that he was a huge fanatic. In the last race on Sunday, in the rain, he finished second," Van der Garde concluded.