May 16 - Lewis Hamilton is being "hunted" by Formula 1's "new generation", according to F1 legend Jacky Ickx.

The 77-year-old Belgian's comments come as Hamilton, 37, struggles not only with Mercedes' uncompetitive 2022 car, but also to keep up with his young new teammate George Russell.

At the same time, Hamilton has gone to war with the FIA's new president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over the reinvigorated push to ban jewellery from the cockpit.

Ben Sulayem warns that if the Briton doesn't comply by Monaco, penalties will be applied.

"You can't let people off because they are your friends," Sulayem told the Daily Mail. "There has to be one rule for all, and that's that."

According to Ickx, who won his eight grands prix in the heady 60s and 70s, Hamilton should have his laser focus on something else entirely - F1's young chargers.

"You can't beat a Max Verstappen, a Charles Leclerc or a Lando Norris if you're over your peak," he told Ziggo Sport.

"As a driver, you grow to your highest level and then you try to maintain that level. As soon as you can't maintain it, and you weaken, it goes away very quickly - much faster than the rate at which you grew."

However, Ickx says Hamilton's Formula 1 adventure is not necessarily over yet.

"The important thing is that he still wants to compete," said the Belgian.

"He has a lot of fans and a lot of people who like to follow him. He will undoubtedly win some more races, but he is running out of time.

"He is very much hunted by the new generation. Did you see how exhausted they were after Miami? Sometimes you hear that winning is easy, but it never is.

"You have to be sharp - constantly."


✅ Check out more posts with related topics:

14 F1 Fan comments on “Hamilton 'hunted' by new F1 generation says Ickx

  1. ReallyOldRacer

    IMO, in the mind of a young lion the hunt isn't for a good, but now limping prey. It is for the best of the other young lions. VER is now the prey for young drivers. The knight has fallen.

    Reply
  2. shroppyfly

    Aparantly , Lewis isnt short of job offers once f1 is done with him , hes been offered the job as a mattress salesman for SilentKnight

    Reply
  3. CanadianEh

    I think the title of the article should read "Hamilton is haunted by new generation of F1 drivers."

    Dame Lucille is falling further and further behind. He's no longer an issue - all the hard-chargers are after Mad Max and Chuck. They're the ones now setting the pace and defining the goal.

    Who'd want to be like Hamilton anyway!?! He's mincing about with his clown costumes and six watches winging about jewellery and being hard-done-by. FFS.

    Reply
  4. Geebijones

    It’s only a handful of races ago that F1 and red bull had to create a roadblock to try to stop Hamilton winning another title (Perez) and despite numerous dodger decisions in the end they had to resort to outright cheating to beat him.

    Reply

  5. ✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.

What's your F1 fan opinion?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please follow our commenting guidelines.