“There’s still some old scar”– Former Red Bull driver thinks Lewis Hamilton & Max Verstappen should take an year off to heal the wounds of rivalry

Former Red Bull driver thinks Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen should be taking a year off to heal the wounds of their title fight.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen had an intensely competitive year in 2021, and probably there will be a couple more considering the competitiveness between the two teams.

Recently, it was reported Verstappen might not stick long if he has to compete in F1 so intensely. On the other hand, Hamilton took a month-long hiatus before reporting back to Mercedes ahead of the 2022 season.

I’ve been gone. Now I’m back! pic.twitter.com/Y8i0cgJXZq

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 5, 2022

Seeing this, Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber thinks both rivals shall take a year-long rest once they hang their wheels. He thinks both of them have some scars which need healing.

“It’s hard, I think we need a year off,” Webber told Wide World of Sports. “They need a year off. There are still some old scars there that need some healing.”

“That might be done after their careers, they can have a red wine together. But while they are racing against each other they will be big rivals, and that’s what we want in the sport.”

Also read: Carlos Sainz praises Lewis Hamilton for how he carried himself after his heartbreaking loss to Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton had to take a hard pill

Webber claims he feels for Hamilton as being 99% of laps ahead, and then losing like this feels bitter. The Australian also claims that Hamilton in the end was fighting the outside force (FIA’s decisions).

“It was a really tough finish for him mentally at the end of last year,” said the former F1 driver. “He led 99 per cent of that race. To lose it the way he did, it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s a big pill to swallow.”

“He felt he was robbed on the last lap because he couldn’t fight. He had nothing to fight with, and it wasn’t through his own doing. He was fighting against something that was an outside force. When it’s Max Verstappen on fresh tyres, it’s a real challenge.”

Also read: Former Grand Prix winner with McLaren talks about his two year stint with team-mate Lewis Hamilton

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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