Max Verstappen hailed Lewis Hamilton‘s two-year contract extension at Mercedes as a good thing for Formula 1, as the Dutchman aims to win a record-breaking tenth race in a row at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen triumphed over Hamilton in extremely controversial circumstances in their heated 2021 world championship battle, but despite sharing the F1 grid for nine seasons, that’s the only time they’ve had an equal fight.
George Russell has also extended at Mercedes until 2025, while Verstappen is under contract at Red Bull until 2028.
“For sure the news is good for the sport,” Verstappen told select members of the press, including Total-Motorsport.com. “And at the end of the day, it’s good for himself and Mercedes, because they’ve been teamed up for a long time and for them to continue that partnership as always it’s great.
“And with the battles, we just have to wait and see what happens between the teams and how everyone is going to perform next year.”
Could Verstappen combine F1 and endurance racing?
Verstappen also shut down any suggestion he could combine F1 and endurance racing, despite previously hinting he’d like to branch out into other series.
Verstappen is an active sim racer and even took part in the 2020 virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans during COVID-19 lockdown, though ended up labelling the event a ‘clown show’ after connectivity issues.
Fans have wondered whether Verstappen could become only the second driver to win motorsport’s triple crown, especially with the Dutchman hinting he could quit F1 after 2028, but he said he wouldn’t try and combine two championships at once.
“No, not really, I don’t think I want to do that,” Verstappen added. “Because you want to focus on one thing fully and when you start combining stuff you’re not really well prepared.”
