It is a relief to see Lewis Hamilton dethrone Michael Schumacher as F1's most successful driver

It is impossible to separate Schumacher’s achievements from his indiscretions. Frank Dernie, former Benetton engineer, says that Schumacher was “ruthless squared”. That extended beyond just committing questionable acts to stoutly and seriously defending his corner — as he did, with a straight face, on many occasions. How galling it must have been for his rivals to hear it. 

In the debate about the greatest of all time, no claim comes without caveats and the “but” for Hamilton will always be how dominant and largely unchallenged his Mercedes team have been for an unprecedentedly long period. His glittering career, however, has only rarely been tainted with underhand tactics.

No driver is entirely without fault and that includes Hamilton, who lied to stewards at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. Yet his reputation as a fair and hard competitor is without reproach and has grown. In very short order, the most successful F1 driver of all time will not be a man with question marks over his conduct.  

Should it really matter, though? Look at another all-time great in Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian was as intense a competitor as Schumacher, is still lauded almost without qualification and is more revered than Schumacher. After Schumacher’s initial retirement in 2006 Villeneuve said that he would not live on in the memory as strongly or as long as Alain Prost or even Nigel Mansell.  “Those people attained a hero status that Michael never has and never will,” he said. “Senna played dirty tricks too, but he did it with more class, more integrity.” His point was that when Senna crossed the line, he was honest. 

We now know this not to be the case, definitively. Schumacher’s records were for so long so far ahead of anyone else that his status at the pinnacle of the sport — but not his character — was unquestionable. 

Still, would this be the case had Schumacher not suffered his life-changing injury on the slopes at the end of 2013? He would surely be remembered at least a little differently, with his on-track conduct not as easily forgotten. The same is true of Senna after his death in 1994. But whilst it is understandable this is the case; it does not have to be so. You can separate the competitor and the human. Of the competitors we know plenty; we see their strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures throughout the year.  And their competitive conduct. Of the people we know little. There is no shame in questioning Schumacher’s on-track actions whilst also recognising his current tragic situation. 

Ross Brawn, who worked closely with Schumacher at Benetton, Ferrari and later Mercedes spoke on Sky's Race to Perfection documentary series about his qualities. “Nobody I know who ever worked with Michael ever had a bad word to say about him, a bad opinion about him because of his integrity, his commitment, his human side,” Brawn said, though many would question the German’s integrity. Likewise Martin Brundle spoke of Senna saying that, although he was responsible for some dangerous moments on track – against Prost at the Japanese Grand Prix in 1990, the best example — he was often the first to put himself in danger and help others, like he did after Erik Comas’s huge shunt in Belgium in 1992.

This all shows that it is difficult to separate the talent, achievements, integrity on the track and the character of a person away from it. Looking at Hamilton’s profile in the past few years, perhaps he has realised this and run with it. He has certainly started to embrace the power of his personal profile. Hamilton is far from universally liked, even in his home country, but he continues to change the face of F1 for the better. With a record-equalling seventh title on a matter of weeks away, his status as F1’s greatest champion may well become unimpeachable.