Hamilton certain Red Bull's fate is sealed after what F1 rival Verstappen did
Johnny Herbert isn’t buying Max Verstappen’s spiel that he has no interest in breaking Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher’s world title record. The Dutchman insists he is “already happy” with his career but Herbert begs to differ.
Verstappen picked up his third consecutive world title in 2023 to draw level with Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna in the all-time winners’ charts at joint fourth. Following a stunning season that saw him become the first driver to break the coveted 500-point barrier, the expectation is that it won’t be his last.
At just 26 years old there is plenty of time left for the Red Bull star to surpass Hamilton and Schumacher’s seven world titles but Verstappen, who has previously teased retiring from the sport at relatively young age, claims he isn’t particularly concerned about making history.
When asked if becoming a record-breaker motivates him, Verstappen replied: “No. I’m not interested in winning seven or eight titles. If you have the car to do so, then great. But even if it doesn’t [happen], I’m happy – I’m already happy, so it’s OK!”
Yet Herbert remains confident that isn’t the case. “One of them especially, to get that eighth World Championship and go ahead of Michael. They’re both wanting to do that,” he told Planet F1 when discussing who would come out on top if they were part of the same team.
“Now, the only way you’re able to do that is to be number one. There’s your problem because when it was Senna and Prost, it was a very, very hard thing for Ron Dennis (then McLaren team boss) to be able to control.
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“I think they’re both aware that, to win races but, more importantly, a world championship, and both are after that. You can’t control it, whatever you try. Even if you stuck them in different rooms for that weekend, you’d still have issues once they get the helmet on and they get on with their race.
“You’re always going to have those incidents that we saw with both of them – once at McLaren, and once at McLaren and Ferrari when Alain had moved on. I think it’s the same thing with Lewis and Max, you can’t have those two elite drivers in the same team because you can’t manage it.”
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