When asked about the greats in Formula 1, any fan would start naming Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, or even Sebastian Vettel according to their likings. Even when the question is posed to drivers, the answer isn’t very different. However, as Vettel recently opened up about the same, he named someone that nobody would have expected.

Sebastian Vettel is in Mexico City for the upcoming Mexican Grand Prix. During the Mexican GP race weekend, the former Ferrari driver was approached by a fan who asked the German about his favorite driver.

Being an Argentine, the fan asked the former Red Bull star about Fangio. To which the four-time world champion replied, “I’m a fan of Michael [Schumacher], but Fangio [ Juan Manuel Fangio] is a little better… the best, the best, the king.”

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Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio are two of the greats in the history of Formula 1, without a doubt. The duo has immense records under their belt and certainly has done something extraordinary as people still remember their name even though they left the sport long back.

How does Juan Manuel Fangio fare when compared to Michael Schumacher?

Even though Michael Schumacher retired long after Fangio retired, it’s needless to say that the duo has left an enormous legacy to the sport. Although they raced in different eras and a comparison would not really be fair, here are some of the statistics of Schumacher and Fangio.

Michael Schumacher is one of the two drivers in the world who has as many as seven F1 world titles. Schumacher, who raced from 1991 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2012, took part in 306 race starts. Among them, the German won 91 races, picked up 155 podiums, 68 pole positions, and 77 fastest laps. The Ferrari legend drove for teams like Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes during his glorious F1 days.

Known as El Maestro, Fangio raced in F1 from 1950 to 1951, and from 1953 to 1958. During this time, he won five F1 driver’s titles. With just 51 race starts, Fangio won 24 races, picked up 35 podiums, 29 pole positions, and 23 fastest laps. If calculated, Fangio has won over 47% of the races he took part in. The brilliant Argentine who raced for teams like Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes, and Ferrari, died in 1995 at the age of 84.

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All in all, Schumacher and Fangio are two of the greatest drivers of their times. It’s hard to pick out the best as they didn’t race at the same time, or in the same machine. However, now we all know who Sebastian Vettel thinks is “the best” among all the drivers in Formula 1.