Lewis Hamilton Wants to Fight Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull Champ Is Simply “Satisfied” Where He Is

Lewis Hamilton Wants to Fight Max Verstappen, but the Red Bull Champ Is Simply “Satisfied” Where He Is

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen engaged in one of the most thrilling battles for the world championship in 2023, with the latter taking home the victor’s spoils. Since the fateful event in 2021, Hamilton has yet to win a race, while Verstappen has registered back-to-back record-breaking seasons.

 

The 2023 season, in particular, was one for the ages, as we witnessed unprecedented success by the Dutchman, winning 19 races out of 22 and achieving the podium another two times. Given the same, Hamilton even urged the FIA to make “the right decisions” so they could put a stop to Verstappen’s dominance and make the sport more interesting for the fans.

During an interview with the German website Blick, Verstappen addressed the issue by answering whether or not he missed the earlier duels against the seven-time world champion.

“No. I was happy with how this season went. Sure, I appreciate the duels we once had. But now I especially appreciate the successes that we can celebrate as a team.”

The Dutchman also talked about Hamilton‘s win drought and answered whether or not he would be able to keep calm if he went 45 races without a win. While he stated he was able to register a win now and then and never had to go winless for such a long stretch, he emphasized the importance of staying in the now. “Well, periods like this can happen, but I prefer not to think about it. Because they eat up the necessary energies in you.”

Lewis Hamilton called for regulation changes to stop the Red Bull dominance

Despite the dominance of Verstappen and Red Bull making for an interesting read when it comes to the records they set, the races often became boring for the fans. As such, Hamilton wanted the FIA to make the “right decisions” to ensure closer competition among the teams on the grid, which would also lead to the sport becoming more interesting to the fans instead of them watching a race with an obvious outcome.

 

The 38-year-old also added on the need for added grandstands and lower ticket prices to increase fan engagement in a sport that continues to grow popular across the globe. “We need more grandstands. I don’t know whether we need to lower the cost but maybe, I don’t know.”

Since the AD21 incident, Hamilton has gone two full seasons without a race win, and his best finish in the drivers’ championship was a P3 in 2023. Despite driving a subpar car, Hamilton showed glimpses of the driver he was until two seasons ago, filling the fans with hopes that if he had a better car, the seven-time world champion was still capable of vying for the championship. Meanwhile, Verstappen‘s dominance across the last two seasons highlights a major performance gap between one team and the other nine, and the onus is on the rest of the grid to catch up as soon as they can.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes F1 team Red Bull Racing

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Naman Gopal Srivastava

Naman is an F1 writer at The SportsRush. Initially a football fanatic who worships Puyol and Leo Messi, Naman soon fell in love with the world of F1 upon reading about Jim Clarke. While the current era drivers do fascinate him, Naman still chooses to idolize Clarke and Ayrton Senna. When he is not busy watching the highlights of some of the greatest races of his idols, Naman can be found scribbling little snippets in his diary of poems or out in the town, exploring new places to eat.

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