Eddie Jordan thinks Lewis Hamilton has gone soft, and urged him to toughen up for the upcoming seasons.
Hamilton lost the chance to win the eighth world championship on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi GP. In the most shocking and controversial of circumstances, he was pipped to the title by Max Verstappen, who overtook him halfway into the final lap to win his maiden world championship.
The seven-time world champion raced hard and clean on Sunday. He did not even try to divebomb into corners or do any other rash kind of driving. Subsequently, Eddie Jordan thinks Lewis Hamilton has gone soft, and called for him to show some aggression in the future.
“You can’t deny Verstappen the right to the championship,” he said, as quoted by BBC.
“However, on the other side, I think Hamilton has opened the door. He’s allowed someone as aggressive and arrogant as Verstappen to upset him and steal his title from him.
“I think Lewis has been too nice for too long and I think he needs to harden himself up again. For me, it’s his body language. Listen to the way he spoke afterwards; he was so sporting.”
Inspiration, but…
“All of Britain can be so proud of what he’s doing, but nice guys don’t win titles and he’s become a nice guy,” he continued.
“He’s the best driver I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen some really top drivers in my time, so for me to say that I’m really putting him on a pedestal.”
The result in Abu Dhabi meant that Hamilton’s four-year streak of winning the Drivers’ Championship has come to an end. The last time he failed to win was in 2016, when he lost to Nico Rosberg, coincidentally in Abu Dhabi that time as well.
Read more: Eddie Jordan: Age, height, weight, personal life, career