Fernando Alonso considers Lewis Hamilton as one of the five greatest Formula 1 Champions in the history.
Hamilton will mark his name along with Juan Manuel Fangio, if he aces his race at Austin while his competitor, Sebastian Vettel, finishes third or lower.
Alonso considered Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Hamilton as his top five.
Two times Spanish world champion said that Hamilton marking his fifth victory would be a “great achievement” in Formula 1.
“It is difficult to compare different times and different ways to win those championships,” said Alonso.
Spaniard finished second with the same place as Hamilton, when they were McLaren team-mates in 2007, while Raikkonen won the title.
He added, “Lewis probably winning five now, same as Fangio, it is a great achievement, and if one had to do it in our generation, I am happy it is him.
“He showed the talent and commitment. When the car was dominating he won and when it wasn’t he still put in performances to show his talent. That is difficult to see these days.”
Hamilton showed the talent from the start of his F1 career by marking at least a single victory every year.
Alonso said: “He showed the talent from day one and fighting for the championship in his rookie year, winning in 2008.
“I am happy for him because he showed the talent from day one, he was able to win races when the car was able to win it, but also able to win when the car was not on top of the form, he still won some races, it is impressive.”
If Hamilton manages to gain additional eight points lead over Vettel to win this year’s title. But he refused to approach the race that it will mark fifth title for himself.
“It just feels like another race weekend that we want to win,” he said. “It is a simple goal to arrive and try to do the same thing, the weather is up and down and the goal is to have the same performance as in previous races.
“We expect Ferrari to punch back hard here this weekend,” he said. “We can’t be relaxed. We have to come here and raise the bar.
“I don’t need more pressure, I am just trying to focus on how I have driven all year long. It is going to be a tricky weekend. Nothing is given.”
