“Maybe he should’ve stopped last year,” Helmut Marko aims a cheeky dig at Lewis Hamilton


“Maybe he should’ve stopped last year,” Helmut Marko aims a cheeky dig at Lewis Hamilton

Lewis and Helmut

Lewis Hamilton had nothing less than a disastrous weekend in the 2022 Emilia Romagna GP. The 7-time World Champion was knocked out in Q2 during Qualifying, finished P14 in the sprint race and scored no points after finishing P13 in the main race.

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The Briton spent most of the race trying to overtake the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly but was unsuccessful in doing so. He was on the receiving end of an unsafe pit release by Alpine’s Esteban Ocon which also added to his misery. But the worst was when Hamilton was lapped by Race winner and Red Bull Driver Max Verstappen with whom he shared a heated rivalry in 2021.

The duo shared a thrilling battle for the title that went till the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi. But Lewis is surely unable to keep up his old form and compete with the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari with the current Mercedes W13 lacking the pace. No wonder he ruled himself out of the Championship despite being just 4 races into the season.

Also Read: “This is not what we deserved,” Toto Wolff apologises to Lewis…

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Helmut Marko believes Lewis Hamilton will be upset after being lapped

Max Verstappen laps Lewis Hamilton in Imola GP

Lewis Hamilton was lapped by Max Verstappen in the 41st lap of the Emilia Romagna GP. The Briton was faced with Blue flags on the main straight asking him to give way for the race leader. When asked by a Sky Sports reporter what would be running through Hamilton’s mind after the Imola GP, Helmut Marko made a sly comment saying, “He was lapped by us. Maybe he should’ve stopped last year.” Even Verstappen was not surprised with it as he said, “they’ve been slow all year so it’s not really a surprise or I feel happy lapping Lewis compared to anyone else.”

This was an embarrassing moment for Mercedes as even Team Principal Toto Wolff apologised on the radio after the race saying, “Sorry for what you had to drive with today, this result is not what we deserved.” To which Hamilton responded with, “I know. Let’s keep working hard.”

Hamilton slid down to 7th in the Drivers standings while Max Verstappen moved to the second spot. Mercedes secured 12 points after George Russell finished P4 after starting P11. But Red Bull’s 1-2 and Max claiming all maximum 34 points in the Weekend means they move to 2nd in the Constructors championship with 113 points, 9 behind leaders Ferrari.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton ‘annoyed’ and seeking ‘revenge’: Ted Kravitz

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