Now a five-time Formula 1 champion, Lewis Hamilton has rejected suggestions he could call himself the "greatest of all time".

On Sunday in Mexico, fourth place was all the Mercedes driver needed to secure the crown as nearest rival Sebastian Vettel failed to take the victory finishing second.

In the days since, many are comparing the Briton, who joined Juan Manuel Fangio in second on the all-time list of title winners, to those who have thrown into the hat for the distinction as F1's 'GOAT' but Hamilton doesn't want to think about it.

“Firstly I could never ever personally classify myself as the best," he told Sky Sports.

“Obviously, within myself, I know my abilities and where I stand. But ultimately, my dad always told me, since I was eight years old, he said ‘do your talking on the track’.

“So I just try to let my results and the results from the things that I do outside of my sport, hopefully, also contribute to that, so people can hopefully create a decent opinion."

Revealing who he does consider as the sport's greatest ever, Hamilton added: “Michael [Schumacher]’s still quite far ahead in race wins so you have to say he is still the GOAT."

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Several are backing the 33-year-old to go on and match the legendary German though, with two titles and 20 wins the most obvious targets for Lewis to aim for in his remaining two years with Mercedes.

“I’ve not really put any thought towards getting to that number – just because I’ve been trying to focus on getting this one,” he said of the seven championships.

“Whether or not I’m going to have the chance to win more, who knows – but I’m going to give it everything to do so.

“The 91 wins that he has, for example, that’s a lot of wins. There’s still a long way to go but I’m here for a few more years, so I’m hoping that I can at least get close.

“Michael was just such a genius in how he implemented himself into Ferrari and what he did with that team. I will always be a fan of him.”