Three-time Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart does not believe Lewis Hamilton can be considered the greatest driver of all-time.

Hamilton is closing in on Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles and will move level with the German if he can clinch another championship this season.

And while many have compared the Briton and Schumacher as to which one is the best ever, Stewart does not believe either of them have the right to that top spot.

"I don’t think that you can account [for] that sort of level of success," he told the In The Fast Lane Podcast.

"Just because today there are 20, 22 races, whereas in the old days when for example Juan Manuel Fangio, raced maybe sometimes six, eight or nine races a year in Formula 1.

"Lewis drives extremely well, make no mistake, I’m not in any way diminishing his skills, but it isn’t the same.

"Lewis made a very good decision when he left McLaren at that time and went to Mercedes-Benz. And I take my hat off to him for making that decision.

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

"Juan Manuel Fangio in my mind is the greatest driver that’s ever lived. With Jim Clark as the second-greatest, even ahead of [Ayrton] Senna."

If Hamilton can win the Eifel Grand Prix in Germany this weekend he will move equal with Schumacher on 91 Grand Prix victories.

The Brit currently has a 44 point lead in the drivers’ championship ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.