EXCLUSIVE
Sebastian Vettel couldn't choose between Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher as the best - but said neither was his toughest.
The four-time world champion was unable to separate his childhood hero from his 'GOAT' Hamilton when he sat down with talkSPORT.
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Vettel grew up watching Formula 1 as his German compatriot Schumacher rose to become the sport’s most successful driver at Ferrari.
The 36-year-old entered F1 in 2007, a year after Schumacher's retirement where he had claimed 91 race wins and seven world titles.
Vettel later had the chance to race alongside his hero after Schumacher made a comeback with Mercedes in 2010.
That coincided with Vettel's championship-winning years at Red Bull before he made the move to Ferrari to hopefully emulate the F1 icon in restoring the Scuderia to its former glory.
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However, Schumacher's second retirement in 2012 saw Mercedes bring in Hamilton the following year, which resulted in the most successful driver-team partnership in F1 history.
During a celebrated 12 years with the Silver Arrows, the Brit superstar surpassed Schumacher's race win record en route to winning six world titles to equal his record of seven.
During a wide-ranging quick-fire questionnaire with talkSPORT Vettel listed reigning Max Verstappen as the driver who surprised him most.
He also tipped Mercedes star George Russell for future glory, but crucially, was asked to pick between two of the best ever.
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On the best driver he raced against, Vettel told talkSPORT: "I would say Michael and Lewis. Why? Because numbers speak for themselves.
"Michael was my hero and Lewis is the best in terms of statistics."
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Despite crowning them both as the greatest, neither won the additional accolade of being Vettel's toughest competitor.
Schumacher in fairness was at the tail end of his storied career by the time he shared a track with Vettel - who in contrast was the best driver on the grid.
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However, Hamilton's snub may come as a surprise, with the pair combining to win nine of the 10 championships in the 2010s while also going wheel-to-wheel during an epic rivalry across the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Instead, when asked by talkSPORT for the toughest on track, Vettel broke out in a smile before replying: "Fernando [Alonso].
"I had close championships and close calls with him and throughout my career generally he's the sort of driver who is always there.
"Very competitive - yeah I think he was the hardest competitor I faced."
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Two-time world champion Alonso was Vettel and Red Bull's chief rival for their run of success in the early 2010s when he was at Ferrari.
The Spaniard - who has since replaced Vettel at Aston Martin - has forged a reputation for being F1's 'bad guy' due to his wiley and explosive nature on-and-off track.