Lewis Hamilton’s journey to break the Formula 1’s record for the most world titles ever has pitted him against a number of competitors over the years. This year, his main competition has come in the form of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
During the three Grand Prix this season, Hamilton had to race against Verstappen, often wheel-to-wheel. The Mercedes driver managed to take two wins to one just before the Spanish GP.
He is currently eight points ahead of his Red Bull rival in the drivers’ championship.
Hamilton, however, is not too bothered about competition. He did, after all, fight off Sebastian Vettel in 2017 and 2018 who was at the time driving the best car on the grid.
“We are facing a winning team, which is at the top of its level and has a car to win the world championship, perhaps even faster than ours,” he told Marca about his battle with Red Bull.
“Max is incredibly fast and really very competitive. He’s hungry for wins and titles, and he’s more experienced than ever.
“But I don’t care who I’m fighting, whether it’s a teammate or another driver.
“I’ve been racing for a long time and already. I have fought against many rivals: Do you remember Ferrari?”
Hamilton has been very vocal about the progress that Mercedes has made this season. But he mentioned that the outfit must not depend on Red Bull making mistakes and rather work to improve itself further.
“I know the people of my team and I know what they are capable of,” he said.
“Testing did not go well, there we saw the gap with Red Bull, but then we did better in managing the race weekends.
“That is why it is important continue like this, very focused on work, because we can improve.
“We must not trust the mistakes of others: we have a good car, but it has its weaknesses. We are striving to progress. We always have to raise the bar.”
Max Verstappen, meanwhile, is enjoying the fight with Hamilton who he has a great respect for.
“I have great respect for Hamilton,” he said. “I have no problem admitting when my opponent does his job well.
“I like this very close duel between Mercedes and Red. Bull, I think it is interesting for the fans and for F1.
“In fact, it is exciting, even more so because I have a car that helps me go fast on all tracks.
“So far we have achieved good results, we are satisfied. Although obviously always you can do better and I’m talking about my driving as well as the car itself.”
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