“Franz has been getting lessons from Helmut” – F1 fans react as Alpha Tauri boss Franz Tost reckons Lewis Hamilton will not be fighting for the championship in 2023
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Franz Tost dismisses the chances of Lewis Hamilton fir the 2023 title fight
Franz Tost is one of the veteran Team Principles in Formula 1, the Austrian has led the Red Bull B team, Alpha Tauri ever since its acquisition by the energy drinks giant in 2005. Tost has gained a reputation in his long stint as team boss for taking a no-nonsense approach to develop young Red Bull talent, even personally looking out for Yuki Tsunoda as the Japanese struggled to get to grips with the pressure at the pinnacle of motorsport.
Recently Franz Tost predicted a three-way fight for the F1 world championship in 2023 but rather curiously the 66-year-old sidelined 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from the contention. The Austrian in a recent interview, mentioned his confidence in the sport having the top three teams fight for the world title but Tost called upon Mercedes’s George Russell to be the top gun at Brackley and not Hamilton. Tost stated, “I am expecting a three-way battle between Max, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, which is stronger than Lewis Hamilton”
This is a bold statement coming from the Alpha Tauri Team Principal, following up on Lewis Hamilton’s worst season in F1, with the 37-year-old failing to win a Grand Prix in a season for the first time in his career. George Russell has proven to be a talented driver in the sport, with the 24-year-old apparently winning the confidence of Franz Tost. The 66-year-old also acknowledged the dominance of Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, stating, “Such superiority as shown by Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing this year is rather rare.”
F1 fans believe Franz Tost’s comments will only make Lewis Hamilton push to the limit
After this conversation appeared on Reddit, fans did not shy away from expressing their views on Tost’s remarks. Many fans considered the 66-year-old’s words as part of the Red Bull playbook, following the anti-Lewis Hamilton attitude of senior Red bull team members such as Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, one fan stated, “Franz has been getting lessons from Helmut.” while another user replied, “the guy who’s been getting PR lessons from Helmut Marko and Christian Horny.” One user also remarked on the consistency in Red Bull’s take on Lewis and said, “RB fear Hamilton so much. It’s wonderful.”
On the other hand, Lewis fans were also quick to point out the Mercedes driver’s attribute of performing even better when such comments are made about him, one fan commented, “I kind of hope more people make these comments. Nothing pisses Lewis off more than people writing him off,” while another fan stated, “12 months from now, we will get Hamiltons response: ‘And I took that personally’” One user even called these remarks as Tost “counting his chickens before they hatched.”
As it seems, the remarks made by Franz Tost might just be a PR tactic to get into Hamilton’s head, which in turn will help the Red Bull senior team and Max Verstappen next season as the Silver Arrows leave no stone unturned in a bid to get back to winning ways. However this season, George Russell was successful in outscoring Hamilton by 35 points and taking the team’s only win at Interlagos, thus pressure will be on Lewis’s shoulders to prove to the world that he indeed is one of the greatest the world has ever seen.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)