Sebastian Vettel hopes Max Verstappen has the means to challenge championship rival, Lewis Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel hopes Max Verstappen has the means to challenge championship rival, Lewis Hamilton

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

Sebastian Vettel, four-time world champion has been one of the most prolific drivers the sport has ever witnessed. The German claimed four back to back championships from 2009-2012, and was simply in a league of his own. However, in the latter half of the last decade, it was Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton who have dominated the circuit.

Lewis Hamilton has went on to win six of the previous seven championships, and has been hardly challenged in the past two years. Nico Rosberg was the only driver who defeated the Briton to the title in 2016. However, post his glory, he decided to hang up his helmet.

Since then, only Sebastian Vettel has come close to challenging Hamilton in 2017 and 2018. The ex-Ferrari driver is intrigued by the magnitude of the Verstappen-Hamilton rivalry this season, as the two championship contenders are separated by just 6 points with six races remaining.

FS Video

I hope that Max has a better car at the end: Sebastian Vettel

YouTube video

Mercedes and Toto Wolff have often stepped up their game when it matters the most in the past few seasons. Hence, Sebastian Vettel hopes that Max Verstappen has a better car going into the final stretch of the season, something which he did not have at his disposal.

“I hope that Max has a better car at the end, or better position to be in at the very end, because the fights that I was [in] with Lewis, unfortunately, we were not as competitive to really give him a hard time in the end. So I think it was quite clear and fairly easy for him to win the championship in the end,” said Vettel as quoted by Autosport.

The Aston Martin driver added that he wants Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton to fight for the championship in the correct manner. He stated that the rivalry was good for the sport, and stated that the battle has been clean so far.

“I think rivalry is good for any sport. But I’m a huge fan of rivalry with respect. And I think we’re seeing a very clean fight so far,” the German added.

Also Read: “We are not friends”: Lewis Hamilton’s cold response to Nick Rosberg latest claim