Sir Jackie Stewart feels Lewis Hamilton silenced his critics with a British Grand Prix victory he described as "one of the best."
In recent weeks Hamilton found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, notably the mistakes he made in Canada and France.
After failing to take a point in those two races, the spotlight was further intensified on Hamilton given his hectic private life which appeared to be a whirl of social events and sponsorship commitments.
But Hamilton shrugged aside any personal issues to storm back to the top of the World Championship standings with a masterful drive in the wet at Silverstone.
Three-times former world champion Stewart believes Hamilton duly managed to get his own back on all those who had questioned him.
"I think Lewis answered a lot of his critics," said Stewart.
"Rubens (Barrichello, third in his Honda) had a hell of a drive, but no-one can beat what Lewis did.
"For somebody so young and inexperienced, to have driven in those conditions to that level with hardly an error made, for me stands very high.
"I struggle to find performances that compare to it, and it will go down as one of his best in respect of his entire career when the time comes.
"In the short term he will continue to make mistakes because he's a young, inexperienced racing driver. He's still going to have to be given time.
"But what he already has, which we've all recognised, is what he demonstrated in the race - an incredibly high ability of skill."
After failing to score points in three of the nine races to date, Stewart feels a run of consistency is now required over the second half of the season for Hamilton to potentially become champion.
The 23-year-old McLaren star is tied on points with the Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, but has the edge on countback.
"He has to concentrate on finishing races," added Stewart.
"He's driving for one of the two best teams in the world, and the chances are they are going to give him the equipment to win races or to finish on the podium on a regular basis.
"If he does that, there's a very good likelihood he's going to win the World Championship.
"You have to keep finishing, keep picking up points."
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