Cape Town - Ross Brawn is confident Lewis Hamilton will overtake Michael Schumacher's seven world titles if he stays on at Mercedes.

Hamilton won his sixth Drivers' Championship title this season, doing so with two races to spare.

That put the Brit's tally up to six, only the second driver in history to achieve that feat.

He is just one away from Schumacher's seven with his former Mercedes team Brawn believing he will break that record if he stays at Mercedes.

That, though, is a big if with pundits suggesting Hamilton could be persuaded to move to Ferrari in 2021.

Asked by Channel 4 if he felt Hamilton will eclipse Schumacher's magic number of seven World Championships, Brawn replied: "I think he probably will.

"Mercedes are a strong team. Even with the new regulations they will make a very good job of them.

"If Lewis stays there he will win more World Championships.

"I think the intrigue is: does he want a new challenge? Michael won World Championships at Benetton but then he wanted a new challenge at Ferrari, which was a big challenge.

"Does Lewis want a challenge to finish off his career or is he going to stay with something that he knows well and is stable?"

Brawn, who has worked with both Hamilton and Schumacher, was then asked the all-important question - Hamilton or Schumacher?

"I don't think you can answer that question," he replied.

"They are quite different drivers. Michael's character and approach was very different to Lewis.

"I've said this before, when I first started working with Lewis I was a little nervous, because his approach is very different but he has made it work.

"I can't take anything away from Lewis. He is extremely professional but his private life is completely different to that of Michael. Michael was almost monastic in terms of his approach.

"It's such a contrast between the two. It took me a little while to adjust but he is a brilliant driver."

- TEAMTalk