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Ex-Formula 1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle believes the “tide is turning” for F1's most supreme driver.
In the turbo-hybrid era, Lewis Hamilton has won five out of the six world championships on offer, only losing out to former teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016.
In 2019, Red Bull's Max Verstappen enjoyed his most successful year to date in F1, securing three grand prix victories on his way to third place in the drivers' championship.
Hamilton and Verstappen had a number of on-track battles during the year, most notably at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton got the better of the Dutchman in the latter stages of the event to take the race win.
Despite Hamilton adding another world championship to his tally in 2019, Brundle believes that Verstappen is moulding himself into being one of the strongest drivers on the gird.
In response to a fan's question on Twitter asking who Brundle would back to win the title in equal machinery between Hamilton and Verstappen, Brundle replied: Until 2019 I’d have always put my money on Hamilton
“But I believe the tide is turning and that’s why I’m particularly sad not to be witnessing Max vs Lewis right now.”
The 2020 season continues to be postponed, and the first race of the year will not take place until June at the very earliest.
In a fresh statement on Monday, F1 CEO Chase Carey specified that the sport was still targetting 15 to 18 races in 2020.
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (6)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It'll be interesting to see which teams will benefit from this break. Methinks the following could be true
RBH and Merc' will remain the top candidates
Ferrari will recover some ground and will now be out of reach for RP
RP will remain P4 but might now be challenged by Renault and McLaren
ATH and the other smaller teams will likely lose some ground
siggy74
Posts: 194
Depends on which way the tide is going ;p
If its going out, or coming back in;p
But then the new kid on the block drives a red Prancing horse....
The down time may not be good for some..... As the hunger changes, and then the drive is not so forceful to develop or win ;p
1 more championship challenge and then Lewis will be offffff ;p
Come on Calle, you must hunger for the old Senna / Prost days = Verstappen and Leclerc dicing it in the years to come ;p
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Those are no doubt the battles I'd look forward to, between two drivers I like and with Honda up for wins. Man, if only we had races to enjoy now. :)
JuJuHound
Posts: 352
To be honest I see Max against Charles more exciting than both of these fighting with Lewis. Charles is all I love in F1, calm but incredible fast while Max reminds me Michael S. someone I always crossed my fingers to lose while knowing he is one of the best in history.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
The age gap cannot be ignored forever, Brundle is right - time erodes and its harder than ever to stay at the top - that's what makes sport so brilliant to watch. How long can he hang on in there....?
greatbigdong
Posts: 53
Personally, until Max can improve his consistency by not making silly mistakes, Lewis is still a better overall driver. But I really hope Leclerc gets into the action.
I do worry that with this long break that the smaller teams will be further behind, as said above. But I can live in hope this doesn't happen!