Hamilton Admits Verstappen And Red Bull Deserve 2023 Championship Title
F1Friday, 01 December 2023 at 04:00
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton recently shared his opinion on Max Verstappen's performances throughout the 2023 season.
The seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton scored six podiums, throughout the 2023 season, finished third in the Drivers' Championship, and helped his team achieve second place in the Constructors' Championship.
However, these are not stats that would make the Mercedes driver proud after winning 7 World titles, achieving 103 wins, and 197 podiums in his career.
The main problem for the 38-year-old has been not matching the pace of Max Verstappen and Red Bull. No matter how great of a performance Hamilton had, he was just not given a chance to win.
What's worse, the seven-time World Champion thinks Verstappen "has broken a sweat" in winning 19 out of 22 races in 2023. He told the BBC:
"You can go through the lap times and some of the data from Max; he is just chilling at the front more often than not. I don’t think he has broken a sweat during the year."
The 38-year-old came perhaps the closest to beating Verstappen in Austin when he started catching the Dutchman towards the end of the race and finished just two seconds behind. However, he said:
"Even when we were chasing him in Austin, I don’t think he was sweating. I think he was just able to control it."
Hamilton has been in a similar position to Verstappen countless times in the past, so he knows having a superior car helps a lot. He explained:
"And when you are in that position where you have performance and can back off, the car goes further. The tyres go longer and you are in a sweet spot, and it is amazing to be in that place."
On the other hand, the Mercedes driver recognizes Verstappen and Red Bull for their incredible consistency and perfect execution. He concluded:
"Ultimately, [Verstappen and Red Bull] have done an amazing job and worked and deserve it."
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