Nico Rosberg hailed Lewis Hamilton’s record 92nd Formula One win and sporting longevity as a great achievement on Tuesday (Oct 27) but said the way the Briton was using his platform to raise awareness for global issues was just as impressive.

The 35-year-olds were team mates and fierce rivals at Mercedes from 2013 until the German won the 2016 title and immediately retired.

Rosberg was also team mate to Michael Schumacher, whose record Hamilton broke in Portugal last Sunday, at Mercedes from 2010-12 after the Ferrari great had made a comeback.

“I have huge respect for what he’s managed to achieve,” Rosberg told Reuters after a launch for the Extreme E off-road electric series that starts next year with both men entering teams.

“It surely will go down as one of the greatest sporting achievements in general, not only in Formula One, across all sports. I can just take my hat off to him.”

Rosberg said he was also ‘super-proud’ of having beaten someone destined to become the most successful Formula One driver of all time.

The German added that it was impossible to decide between Schumacher and Hamilton in terms of greatness and he would put them as equals.