Lewis Hamilton was denied his record eighth championship title in the 2021 season in the final race of the season. The Briton had hoped to fight for the title in 2022 but that didn’t happen either.
His rival Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the other hand won two back-to-back titles. Heading into the 2023 season, the seven-time world champion hopes to overthrow the Dutchman and conquer.
But he has been given a stern warning about racing against the Dutchman in the next season. Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan said that Verstappen is extremely gifted and he knows what he is talking about within the car.
The Dutchman’s engineers know how to deliver a car that suits him the best and is easy to drive. On top of that with his performance in the past seasons is a witness that he is an exceptional driver. Going ahead, he can improve to be an even better version of himself.
Monaghan believes that the 25-year-old will dig into himself and demonstrate those skills on the track once provided with a suitable car.
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The worst season of Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes’ problem child, W13 caused a lot of problems for Hamilton. Even after heading into the season on a positive note, Hamilton was never really able to fight at the front.
By the time his team managed to fix the problems with the car, Verstappen was already way too ahead into the championship.
Hamilton described the 2022 season as the worst in his entire career. He failed to secure a single win over the season.
Though, Mercedes seemed to have made a few improvements as the 2022 season neared its end. It is possible that the Silver Arrows will be able to provide its duo with a car suitable to battle for the title in 2023.
Back-to-back wins for @LewisHamilton as he takes victory in Qatar 👀🎧
And cuts Max Verstappen’s championship lead to eight points with two races left to go! 🏆#QatarGP 🇶🇦 #F1 pic.twitter.com/9xOMl0m2kx
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 21, 2021
Max Verstappen needs to pay a hefty amount for the 2023 season
Verstappen dominated the 2022 season and won the championship title early in the season at the Japanese Grand Prix with 4 races left to go.
He even scored a record-breaking number of 454 points in the championship season but it comes at a price.
To participate in an F1 season, a driver has to pay a Super License fee which is made up of $11,200 plus $2,260 for every point scored in a championship season.
Based on this, Verstappen is due to pay about $1 Million as the fee to be able to participate in the next season.
Also Read: Max Verstappen regard’s Red Bull’s 8Kg weight reduction was crucial for title win
