F1 fans claim rookie George Russell's fantastic debut proved Lewis Hamilton is NOT the greatest

By Juan José Castro | Sport in action

The 22-year-old British driver would have won but for a rare pit-lane mix-up by the Mercedes mechanics that demoted him from first to fifth place.

And even then, the Mercedes car had such speed that Russell could easily have won only for a puncture to end his pursuit of eventual winner Sergio Perez.

For many F1 fans on social media, it proved that anyone driving the Mercedes car is able to win a race and, for some, that Hamilton's achievements are diminished as a result.

Earlier this year, before Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher's record haul of seven world titles, Stewart, 81, said it was 'difficult to justify' saying he was the greatest driver of all time.

'Lewis drives extremely well, make no mistake, I'm not in any way diminishing his skills, but it isn't the same,' Stewart told the In the Fast Lane podcast.

'But, frankly, the car and the engine are now so superior that it's almost unfair on the rest of the field.'

And after rookie Williams driver Russell qualified just 0.026 seconds behind Bottas in Bahrain then finished in the points in ninth place, many fans agreed with him.

Photo: Daily Mail