Lewis Hamilton admitted he “had no thought” that Max Verstappen had received the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix throughout an eventful interview following the race.
The seven-time Components 1 champion endured a troublesome weekend on the Losail circuit the place he was persistently complaining about his Ferrari equipment earlier than ending outdoors the factors in Sunday’s grand prix. However when he was requested in regards to the title struggle going into the ultimate race of the season, his focus turned to Abu Dhabi.
On being informed there was now a three-way struggle for the title with McLaren’s Lando Norris solely 12 factors forward of Pink Bull’s Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri simply 4 factors behind him, Hamilton was shocked to grasp the Australian hadn’t received.
“How’s Max 12 behind now?” he requested when the drivers’ standings have been talked about. “Max received? Oh, shoot, I did not know, I had no thought. Wow, holy sh*t. No, no, I assumed Piastri received, I do not know.”
He then double-checked how badly Norris had misplaced out. “Oh, actually?” he requested when he was informed the Briton completed fourth. “Lando was fourth? The place’s Piastri?”
Solely when he was informed that Piastri completed second adopted by Williams’ Carlos Sainz, did the outcome sink in.
“So Oscar’s third now?” he continued. “Goes proper to the wire!”
Regardless of their intense 2021 rivalry, Hamilton was greater than complimentary of Verstappen’s 2025 marketing campaign.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Picture by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Photos by way of Getty Photos
“Nicely, everyone knows Max does a terrific job,” Hamilton mentioned.
“I feel he is acquired an exceptional crew behind him, which there isn’t any denying they’ve had the most effective automotive over the past 4 years. And possibly much less so initially of this 12 months, however they someway got here again. He is clearly acquired a terrific automotive, however he does an incredible job with it, so I am unable to fault him.”
The previous Mercedes driver had beforehand complained in regards to the lack of selection in technique seen through the race as a result of tyre restrict and format of the circuit. However with a considerable change to the rules in 2026, Hamilton expects higher racing.
“I imply, our vehicles might be rather a lot totally different,” he mentioned. “There ought to be extra variation between groups. Presumably. Presumably rather a lot totally different. Perhaps there will be extra overtaking due to the, yeah… we’ll see.”
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