Lewis Hamilton was forced to watch Max Verstappen take control of the 2023 World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton has praised his old nemesis Max Verstappen ahead of the Dutchman’s Formula 1 triumph this weekend. Red Bull star Verstappen is expected to retain his world championship title, winning for the third year in a row.
The defending champion only needs 3 more points to win the world championship. Unusually this could happen in Saturday’s sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix, meaning he could be the winner of Sunday’s Grand Prix. Verstappen has shared a tense relationship with Hamilton since their dramatic battle for the 2021 crown. The Dutchman controversially won the drivers’ championship on the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes and Hamilton have since launched some scathing attacks on Red Bull, but the British driver has now shown his true colors by praising his old rival. Hamilton affirmed that Verstappen was “perfect” and “phenomenal” in his quest for success.
“Max is perfect and no one can take that away from him,” Hamilton said before Qatar. “He did an incredible job with the package he had.
The seven-time champion, who has endured a difficult few years watching Verstappen dominate, added:
“He and the whole team were incredible. They raised the bar.”
Verstappen has won an incredible 13 of 16 Grands Prix this season. In a year dominated by Red Bull, Carlos Sainz was the only driver outside the team to taste success by winning in Singapore. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez has won twice. “We are having an incredible year and we go into this weekend wanting to win again. And of course I know if I win or whatever on Saturday I will win the championship, but we are just very focused on the main job,” said Verstappen thoughtfully.
The 26-year-old added: “If it’s Saturday or Sunday, I don’t think it matters much. Winning at the first opportunity is always great.
“Winning three championships in a row is never easy. You need a really good car but I always try to be consistent and not make too many mistakes.
“The car is in a very good window, except for Singapore [last month], but it’s been great to drive all the other races. But it’s always easy to make mistakes when driving at the limit and that’s what I’m doing.” try to remove it.”