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Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher had multiple on-track battles while they drove in Formula 1, the premier form of motorsport. While they did not face each other in their prime, they spent a good amount of time battling for track positions. Fans witnessed one such battle during the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher and Hamilton qualified fifth and ninth for the Monaco race that year, respectively. Soon after the race started, the latter moved up and was right behind the German driver. As he closed in on the German, Hamilton began to push Schumacher.
Being a street circuit, the Circuit de Monaco is predominantly a narrow race track, and overtaking on this track is not an easy task. Despite this, Hamilton was in the hunt to pull an overtake on Schumacher. The young Briton closed in on the senior driver and tried to execute the overtake, but Schumacher was able to thwart the effort.
However, Hamilton was not ready to give in. He tried again in the next few corners and ultimately succeeded. The Briton sent the German wide into the left, and he moved extremely right to slam the door shut. Schumacher tried to get back, but in doing so, he drifted and lost the position.
Following the overtake, the British driver took to his team radio and hit out at the German. He said,
"What a dirty driver!!"
The race, in the end, did not end well for Michael Schumacher. He suffered an airbox failure and had to retire the car. On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton went on to finish the race in sixth. Sebastian Vettel, who started the Monaco GP from pole position, claimed the victory.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button wrapped up the podium places. It was Schumacher's second year at Mercedes after he returned to the sport following his retirement at the end of 2006. Hamilton, on the other hand, was racing in what would be his penultimate season for McLaren.
When former F1 driver gave his take on who was better between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher
Rubens Barrichello, the former F1 driver, once opened up on whom he thought was the better driver between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. Barrichello, who raced alongside Schumacher in his prime years, said in 2020 (via The Express)
“Hamilton better than Schumacher? I think so. I competed with both but was only there in the early years of Hamilton, but I think so."
Interestingly, Barrichello raced alongside Schumacher during the latter's championship years. On the other hand, he witnessed Hamilton during his early years.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are seven-time F1 world champions. However, the former is statistically the better driver as he has 105 Grand Prix victories and 201 podiums. Schumacher garnered 91 race wins and 155 podiums.
