Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton (L) and Fernando Alonso were teammates at McLaren in 2007. In this picture, Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren Honda and Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP in the Drivers Press Conference during previews for the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada, June 8, 2017. Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton has anointed McLaren driver Fernando Alonso as the toughest rival he has ever come up against during his 12-year involvement in Formula 1. The British racer currently driving for Mercedes came into sport as part of the McLaren junior driving program and was teammates with the Spaniard in his debut season in 2007.

The duo shared a fractious relationship during their time together in McLaren with Alonso falling out with the team management owing to them allegedly favoring Hamilton despite the Spanish driver being the then reigning world champion. He had also joined the Woking based team in 2007 following his double title triumph with Renault in 2005 and 2006.

Alonso terminated his contract with McLaren after just one season and returned to Renault, where he spent two more seasons before joining Ferrari. Despite the duo never going head-to-head in a title battle, both the drivers respected each other with Alonso stating on a number of occasions that Hamilton is one of the best on the grid.

The British driver shared a fierce rivalry with Nico Rosberg when they were teammates at Mercedes between 2013 and 2016 and they regularly challenged for the title. Their rivalry stemmed not due to on-track battles but their relationship going back to their karting days when they were best friends.

“I would say Fernando is one of the toughest that I have ever faced,” Hamilton said answering questions from fans during an event with UBS Formula 1. “I would say the battle with Nico was difficult but for different reasons.”

“Everyone has had their own challenges and they are all different in their own rights,” the Briton added.

It was surprising to some he did not mention Sebastian Vettel, the only driver from another team to challenge him for the Drivers’ championship title in the last four years. The Ferrari driver led the championship for most of last season before being usurped in the end by Hamilton.

Again in 2018, Vettel is his main title contender having won the opening two races of the season. Hamilton won his first race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 29 to take a four point lead in the championship, but is not convinced Mercedes have the car to challenge Ferrari on pure performance.

Hamilton, however, has welcomed the challenge from his fellow four-time world champion insisting the harder the fight the better the feeling when he wins. Vettel has won two races this season and has now been installed as joint favorite for the title alongside his Mercedes rival.

“I don’t arrive thinking I’m a four-time world champion,” Hamilton said. “You reset every year and your goals and aspirations are changing.”

“It’s kind of cool but he has got a bloody good car and it is going to take every ounce out of me to try and win,” he added about his battle with Vettel. “We are going to have intense battle but I wouldn’t have it any other way. ... The better he is the harder I have to work and it makes it all the more satisfying when I win.”

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