Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda has been a very important person in the career of Lewis Hamilton. The Austrian Formula 1 legend had been working with the Mercedes team since 2012 till he passed away in 2019. He was one of the major forces behind Mercedes becoming the all-conquering team that it was during the Turbo-Hybrid Era.
Lauda developed a very beautiful friendship with Lewis Hamilton and acted as his mentor throughout the time. Lewis used to visit Niki Lauda often at his home in Ibiza. One of the most important parts of their friendship was that Lauda helped Hamilton improve in ways that others couldn’t.
Niki Lauda was a straight talker. He hated beating around the bush and this helped Lewis Hamilton a lot as Lauda pointed out the errors that Hamilton used to make. A good example of this would be when Lauda explained to Hamilton directly that it was his error when he collided with his teammate Nico Rosberg during the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
Niki Lauda had named Fernando Alonso as Schumacher’s direct successor
Despite Niki Lauda being so close to Lewis Hamilton, the F1 legend had once said that it is Fernando Alonso, who could replicate the greatness of Michael Schumacher. Speaking to the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag in 2005, Lauda had said, “Alonso is the true successor of Schumacher.”
Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have had a long-standing rivalry. In fact, it is the oldest existing rivalry in the current Formula 1 grid. Alonso was Hamilton’s teammate in 2007 when they both drove for McLaren. They battled it out with each other intensely, but the title was eventually won by Kimi Raikkonen. Over the years, the duo has clashed with each other on multiple occasions.
Their rivalry flared up again as recently as in 2021. During the Hungarian Grand Prix of that season, Fernando Alonso put up a defensive masterclass in his Alpine and stopped Hamilton from passing him for quite a few laps. This allowed his teammate Esteban Ocon to win a Grand Prix for the first time.
Lewis Hamilton Turned Out To Be The True Successor to Schumacher
Fernando Alonso did manage to win the championship in 2005 with Renault after Niki Lauda made the comment. He won again in 2006 with the same team. However, since then, Lewis Hamilton has gone on to prove that it is he who is the true successor of the great Michael Schumacher
Lewis Hamilton has racked up seven world championship titles, equalling Schumacher. He has gathered 103 pole positions and 103 race wins in Formula 1 and can definitely be considered one of the Greatest of All Times.
