Lewis Hamilton makes Max Verstappen title admission as Toto Wolff laments Mercedes errors

F1: Can Lewis Hamilton do it again?

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Lewis Hamilton has conceded that Max Verstappen is “walking away” with the F1 Championship this year, as a record eighth world title seems to be well out of reach. Mercedes have won the last seven World Championships with drivers Lewis Hamilton (six) and Nico Rosberg (one). 

This year however, it appears their dominance is at an end.

Red Bull Racing have now taken five wins in a row, four coming from Verstappen.

Hamilton admitted: “Max is walking away with it right now and there is not much we can really do about it.”

However, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff remains optimistic, he said: “We have 13-14 races to go.

“We are one retirement away from Red Bull and we have lost more points than we should have lost to our own mistakes.”

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Red Bull’s resurgence has signalled a break in tradition for the sport, with Mercedes finally being tried and tested again, spectators are delighted.

Verstappen, 23, has been on the F1 circuit since 2015, and was always hotly tipped to be Hamilton’s natural successor.

The young Belgian has been improving year after year since his debut, and now looks primed and ready to take his first Championship.

After winning the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday, Verstappen said: “It’s incredible to be honest. The car was on rails. I mean on every tyre set we put on, it was really enjoyable to drive.

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“I’m a bit amazed myself how today went; I didn’t expect it to be like this. Incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this.

“Of course, when you go into the weekend everybody sees you as the favourite, but it’s never easy to actually always deliver what we did today.”

1996 winner Damon Hill told Sky Sports: “The competition looked like it was going to be very tight at the start of the season, maybe swinging backwards and forwards and not much in it between Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Max Verstappen in the Red Bull.

“Toto Wolff was putting a brave face on it by saying it’s one DNF away from recovering all that deficit, but then DNFs happen the other way around as well.

“It is looking like Max is inching away into the distance, just as he did do in Austria.”

Only time will tell if Hamilton, 36, will be able to beat his and Michael Schumacher’s record of seven, and clinch an eighth World Championship.

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