Hamilton faces awkward year at Mercedes, says Verstappen
The HinduMax Verstappen expects his old rival Lewis Hamilton to have an awkward last season at Mercedes before the seven-times world champion switches to Formula One rivals Ferrari for 2025. The Dutch 26-year-old, chasing his fourth successive title this season, told reporters at the launch of Red Bull’s new car on Thursday that the Briton would be in a “weird” situation. “Even though you have had a lot of success together as a team, you can’t be included into everything any more,” said Verstappen. “At the moment I am very happy where I’m at, so I don’t see myself leaving at the moment.” Verstappen won a record 19 of 22 races last season, the most dominant ever with Red Bull claiming victory in every race apart from Singapore where Sainz won. “It’s really difficult to know how quick we are going to be.” Verstappen also said he had “no clue” who might represent Red Bull’s biggest threat and there had been no distraction from a company inquiry into the conduct of principal Christian Horner.