In 2021, Lewis Hamilton was seconds away from winning his eighth F1 world title, when a controversial call saw Max Verstappen pip him to the post.
Now, two years on, he’s 134 points behind his rival, with the chances of catching him in the near future almost obsolete. However, that’s not necessarily down to his racing ability.
While his Mercedes car is still a remarkably impressive motor vehicle, ultimately, it’s currently unable to compete with the sheer power and speed of Red Bull’s latest design.
Sadly, it appears that this is giving Hamilton sleepless nights, as while he knows he still has the talent to give Verstappen a real run for his money, simply down to circumstances, he isn’t able to do so.
Growing increasingly tired of the situation, he said: “Ultimately, there are fundamental changes that have to change for next year.
“And I’ve been asking for it for over a year. So I expect to have that in future, which I think will definitely help. But it’s not only that, it’s the rear end, and how it rotates through a corner. But we’re working on that, and the team are very, very focused on that.
“I think we’ve got some progress coming over the coming months, which will also help rectify that. So I’m excited.”
While his comments have raised a few eyebrows, an F1 icon has come forward to defend him.
READ MORE: ‘MAX VERSTAPPEN AND RED BULL DOMINATION WILL CAUSE NEW F1 FANS TO SWITCH OFF’ CLAIMS JOHNNY HERBERT
Johnny Herbert defends Lewis Hamilton
In an exclusive interview with KingCasinoBonus, Johnny Herbert gave some interesting opinions.
He said: “There are always going to be games being played. We have the rules that we have got, and you have got to try to work your way through those rules to produce the car that is on the track.
“Mercedes had a great five-year dominance, and the dominance you are seeking today from Red Bull in terms of lap times, say, is nowhere near the dominance that Mercedes had in their pomp in 2013-14. They had seconds advantage of everyone else.
“Lewis’s comments are probably borne out of frustration that he is not able to be given a car to show the natural ability we know he has. Can he still win a world title? Damn right. If he was in the Red Bull, would it be him or Max? Well, it would be a brilliant fight!”
He then alleged that while policing advantages is technically possible, in all reality, the teams wouldn’t have any interest.
Herbert added: “You can police it, but deep down the teams don’t want it policed. You can always talk about wheel-to-wheel battles. No, a team wants to get into a position where it dominates every single time it goes out on the track. If we get more interesting racing, a surprise win, then that is only a good thing for F1.
“Is what we are seeing with Red Bull true to F1, for a core fan? They would probably say it is not. But you have to be very careful that you don’t go too far with technology because technology makes it possible for the entertainment part of it, the drivers racing, the natural jeopardy. Kit is a very fine balance. Teams will always want perfection, but perfection can be very boring.”
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