Lewis Hamilton Says it’s Getting “Harder” to Win and Predicts “Closest Racing” With Red Bull in the Coming Months

In yet another excitement-filled Grand Prix, it was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who emerged victorious. In doing so, Hamilton equaled the record for the highest number of race wins set by the legendary Michael Schumacher.

However, he admitted that his win wasn’t easy. The Briton reserved a lot of praise for Red Bull, who keep on improving and pushing the 6-time World Champion. Following the race, Hamilton said, “Well, you saw they had the fastest lap in the end and I pushed as hard as I could to get the fastest lap.

“They’ve got a great car. I think they are continuously improving. I think it is going to be this close between us, particularly for the rest of the season. There’s probably going to be tracks that favor them maybe. And then going into next year there is a similar car to what we have.

“So I think we are going to see the closest racing in the next twelve months between the two. Every weekend, (even) with 91 wins it never gets easier. If anything, it’s almost like it is getting harder.”

Although Red Bull gave Hamilton a tough fight, the Briton was still head and shoulders above the others and came back strongly following Valtteri Bottas’ early charge.

He kept himself atop the Drivers’ Championship standings with 230 points, and Bottas’ DNF may well have sealed Hamilton’s 7th world championship title.

Lewis Hamilton lauds Red Bull F1’s Max Verstappen

Apart from praising the Red Bull team, the Mercedes man also waxed lyrical over the Dutchman behind the wheel of the RB16.

He said, “This guy (Verstappen) is such a great talent. He’s so fast and consistent so it’s not easy to beat this young up and coming champ.”

That’s high praise coming from one of the sport’s greatest drivers. But Hamilton is not the first and definitely won’t be the last to laud Verstappen. The Red Bull ace is a phenom and could very well dominate the F1 scene in the future.

While Red Bull will definitely be happy with Max’s P2 finish, they’d be equally disappointed about Alex Albon’s unfortunate retirement. They’d have hoped to leave Germany with more than 18 points in the bag.

They now find themselves 180 points behind Mercedes in the race for the championship. It seems too large a chasm to cross with only 6 races remaining. Nevertheless, a strong end to the season with a win or two will make them more than happy.