Felipe Massa believes 2008 title rival Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest drivers to have graced Formula One.
With Hamilton set to claim a fourth drivers' title at this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix, he is set to become Britain's most successful ever F1 driver. Hamilton has already broken the record for most career pole positions and has moved into second on the all-time grand prix winners list.
Massa thinks Hamilton's success means he should be put in the same bracket as Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna -- two drivers often labelled as the greatest of all-time.
"Lewis is definitely one of the best drivers in the history of Formula One," Massa told Sky Sports. "You cannot really take him away or [place him] in a different level compared to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. He's there."
Massa argues fans are guilty of looking back at F1 history with rose-tinted glasses and modern day drivers deserve to be put on the same pedestal as ones who competed before them.
"All the time you saw Lewis in the car he was impressive,'' Massa added. "He impressed the people in whatever category he did. It was the same with Ayrton Senna. It was the same with Michael Schumacher. The problem is people always love to look back and say in the past it was much better than now, which is not true.
"If [in football] you see Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and some other players, maybe even Neymar will be very soon on that level, they have nothing to lose compared to Maradona, Pele or whoever. It's the same here."