F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Issues Sly Warning To Max Verstappen

Hamilton issues reminder of how hard it is to stay at the top.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has issued a warning to two-time champion Max Verstappen.

Hamilton and Verstappen have been battling it out on the track for some time and although Mercedes had a difficult 2022 season and were not in a position to be competitive against Red Bull, Hamilton is hopeful to come back fighting for 2023. 

Verstappen sailed his way through 2022 claiming the driver's championship win at the Japanese Grand Prix, taking the Red Bull team to victory of the constructor’s championship a week later at the Austin Grand Prix, and breaking the record for number of race wins in a season with fifteen. 

2022 was the first season in Hamilton's long F1 career that he has not won a single race. Despite this, the British driver is not disappointed with the year and has acknowledged how far the team came from the start of the season to the end. He explained during an interview with Bild:

"We had so many successes before that it felt a little empty. We won, but we had expected it. That's weird, because it's actually such a great thing."

Hamilton went on to explain how difficult it is to get to the top but also issuing a sly warning of how hard it is to stay there. The seven-time champion continued:

"I know how hard it is to be at the top and stay there."

The upcoming 2023 season will be kicking off with the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday 5th March where Verstappen will be coming back looking to make his way to his third championship, and Hamilton his eighth. 

Hamilton currently holds the record of championship wins with F1 legend Michael Schumacher, with them both having seven.

The Belgian-Dutch driver is clearly at the top of his game at the moment so it will be interesting to see how the competition unfolds at the top of the grid between Red Bull, Mercedes, and Ferrari.