“Max [Verstappen] has turned down Mercedes”– Lewis Hamilton was never supposed to continue with Mercedes

“Max [Verstappen] has turned down Mercedes”– Ralph Schumacher reveals Mercedes were banking to hire the Red Bull superstar.

Lewis Hamilton recently signed a two-year-long contract extension with Mercedes, giving him a genuine shot at the eighth world title before he considers retiring.

However, according to the former F1 driver Ralph Schumacher, Hamilton was never supposed to sign that extension, and it only happened because Red Bull superstar Max Verstappen declined Mercedes.

”For me, that extension mainly means that Max has turned down Mercedes. I think Mercedes had put all their hopes on capturing Max for that cockpit to secure their future fully.”

That idea is now gone, and in my eyes, Lewis was the only alternative,” Schumacher told Sport Bild. Verstappen has never discarded the idea of moving away from Red Bull, but if Schumacher telling the truth, then Verstappen currently believes in his team’s project.

Down to the fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Last week, the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen took an ugly turn when a collision between the two caused the Dutch race driver to crash into the barriers.

The moment of impact between Hamilton and Verstappen 👀#BritishGP 🇬🇧 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kxbV5xPYPt

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 18, 2021

Schumacher hopes that the two remain safe in the following close battles and opines that only the racing skill will make a champion this season, as both cars are highly even.

”Now I’m curious if Mercedes can turn it around because Red Bull still has a lot behind them and certainly hasn’t shown everything yet. It will really come down to a duel between Hamilton and Verstappen.”

“I hope nobody gets hurt. Hamilton and Verstappen remind me more and more of Senna and Prost, the way they treated each other,” concludes the German.

Now, F1’s contingent is heading to Hungary, where Red Bull seeks revenge against Mercedes, or will the latter be a victor again to regain its top spot in the championship race?

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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