Formula 1 icon Lewis Hamilton believes Max Verstappen is set to clinch his second world championship as he claimed the path to glory for the Red Bull ace is ‘smooth-sailing’.
The Dutchman secured his seventh win of the season after rival Charles Leclerc crashed out from the lead at the French Grand Prix on Sunday. The Ferrari driver desperately needed a good result to keep his fading title hopes alive but he gifted rival Max Verstappen the win - and perhaps the championship - with his error.
Leclerc lost control at the Beausset right-hand corner two laps after his Red Bull rival had made his first pit stop. It meant Verstappen cruised to a seventh win in 12 races to move 63 points clear of the Monegasque star with 10 races to go.
Heading into this week’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Verstappen holds a dominant 63-point lead over Leclerc in the Drivers’ Championship - a gap of over two wins with just 10 races to go. The event in Budapest on Sunday is the final round before F1’s summer break, which lasts four weeks.
Hamilton took advantage of Leclerc’s mistake to achieve his best result of the season as he clinched P2 behind Verstappen while Mercedes teammate George Russell joined him on the podium for the first time since his switch from Williams. The 37-year-old - who is now 106 points behind Verstappen - expressed his dismay at Leclerc’s crash.
“I am gutted for Charles,” Leclerc said. “He has been doing a great job. But it is not easy to have that performance and pace and be able to maintain it. I feel for the whole team because I know what that can feel like.
“It is a massive gap to Max so that is pretty smooth-sailing for him in that space. But a lot can go wrong. I would just advise Ferrari to keep their heads down and continue to push.”
While the French Grand Prix proved to be a day to forget for Leclerc and Ferrari, Mercedes celebrated their best result of the season as both Hamilton and Russell made it to the podium. The performance of the W13 ensured the earlier problems linked to the porpoising phenomenon were a far cry.
It has been a frustrating campaign for the octuple world champions, and Hamilton went on to draw parallels to the 2009 season when he was with McLaren. Heading into the campaign as the world champion, Hamilton struggled in deeply uncompetitive machinery before stunning the grid with a dramatic win at the Hungororing - a track where he has enjoyed great success with a record eight wins.
“I remember that year very clearly,” added Hamilton. “I remember arriving back from winter training and being in a meeting with the guys, and they were like ‘we have already hit our downforce target’.
“And I was like ‘wow, really? That probably means we have not set the target high enough’.
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“I got in the car in a test at Portimao and it was horrendous to drive, the worst car I have ever driven. But we chipped away at it, and we got our first win in Budapest. The start of this year was very similar. Sitting down it looked glorious. We had a lot of performance on the car, and a lot of confidence that the car was going to be good.
“But we got in the car, it was bouncing and it has taken a long time to fix that. So far we have not made that big step that we did in 2009 to win in Budapest but who knows? We are not giving up.
“We are staying pedal to the metal. Maybe our car will be good in Hungary, maybe we will be closer to Red Bull and Ferrari. I hope so much that we will be because I love that track.”
The 22-race F1 2022 campaign continues with the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest on July 31.
