Ralf Schumacher thinks that Lewis Hamilton will win in Saudi Arabia and take the Championship battle to the last race in Abu Dhabi.
F1 makes its debut in Saudi Arabia this weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The track is expected to be the fastest street circuit on the calendar. It seems like a track that will suit the Mercedes cars on paper, and Ralf Schumacher agrees.
Schumacher raced in F1 from 1997 to 2007 and has won 6 races during his time in the sport. The German predicts a Lewis Hamilton victory in Jeddah on Sunday.
New Jeddah F1 track is going to significantly reward the brave and accurate. Multiple series of very high speed corners between walls where there’ll absolutely be no small accidents. 27 turns of which about 14 will be recognised by an F1 car, but there’s peril everywhere pic.twitter.com/lNPpZ6bJ1s
— Martin Brundle (@MBrundleF1) December 2, 2021
Hamilton winning would further close the gap between the two at the top of the standings, and Schumacher thinks we are in for an exciting end to the season in Abu Dhabi next week.
“Saudi Arabia is a track that suits Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes on paper,” he said. “But I think the race in Abu Dhabi could play into Red Bull’s hands, despite changes that will make the track even faster.
“If everything goes normally, we will experience a heart-stopping finale in Abu Dhabi.”
Max Verstappen deserves to win the title over Lewis Hamilton, says Schumacher
Despite others taking sides, the former Williams driver said he could not predict who would stand tall at the end of the season. “My head says that Mercedes have an advantage. The last races have shown that,” he said.
“That means Red Bull will have to go one step further with the car. But in Max’s favour is the fact that he still has an eight-point lead and is the only one who can already secure the title in Saudi Arabia.”
The 46-year-old went on to say that both drivers would be worthy winners of the Championship, but Max has the edge when it comes to ‘who deserves it more’.
MAX VERSTAPPEN IS BACK TO WINNING WAYS! 🏁
He holds off Lewis Hamilton for his eighth win of the season, and it means he leads the championship!#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/fbvq7aiXBl
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 24, 2021
“So far we have seen a fight between two absolute world-class drivers who don’t give each other anything,” he added.
“But you also have to be honest, due to his blown tyre when he was in the lead in Baku, the collision with Hamilton at Silverstone and the start crash in Hungary, when Valtteri Bottas accidentally became a bowling ball, Max easily lost more than 50 points through no fault of his own.”
“That means he would already be World Champion by now, and a deserved one.” Schumacher concluded.
