Ralf Schumacher worried current title battle could end with injury
Jul.23 - Ralf Schumacher is worried this year's title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen could ultimately end in injury.
At Silverstone, a high-speed crash after an uncompromising duel between the pair at the almost flat-out Copse corner left Verstappen briefly in hospital.
Former F1 driver Schumacher thinks it could just be the precursor for more of the same.
"The battle is coming to a head," he told Sport Bild. "I hope nobody gets hurt.
"Hamilton and Verstappen are slowly reminding me of Senna and Prost - the way they treat each other."
Several authoritative media reports are now suggesting that seven time world champion Hamilton, who clawed back his deficit to just 8 points with his British GP win, has now reached out to Verstappen to discuss the crash.
But Schumacher thinks the pair are both now equally determined to beat the other to the 2021 world championship - which would be the first title for 23-year-old Verstappen, and the record-breaking eighth for Hamilton.
"I believe Lewis really wants to break my brother's world championship record of seven titles," said Ralf.
"Mercedes still has the better engine, but something is wrong with the car," he continued.
"The fact that they are now using a lot of wing to have more downforce but are so slow on the straights shows that."
He also thinks Mercedes is determined to complete the entire era of the current regulations without losing a single title.
"There are rumours that the works team will quit and that Mercedes only wants to supply engines in the future. I therefore assume that McLaren will play a bigger role as a customer team.
"It's similar with Aston Martin, where Toto Wolff is privately connected as an investor. A lot will change at Mercedes, including the ownership structure of the team," Schumacher predicted.
He also thinks relations are particularly strained between Red Bull and Mercedes after Wolff - in his view - clearly made approaches to Verstappen.
"For me, Hamilton's contract extension means that Max said no to Mercedes. I think Mercedes really wanted him to secure their future and Lewis was the only alternative," said Schumacher.
"Now I'm wondering if Mercedes can turn the tide this year, because Red Bull is clearly in front and they haven't shown everything yet."
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May Hamilton taste his own poison....
I am not a HAM fan, but I hope that this is not a veiled suggestion that he should suffer physical injury.....sick thought. Spins, mech failures and races losses are cool, but injury.....no.
lot of weird comments recently , lot of new posters,not many fact based comments either and a distinct lack of humour and sarcasm .
Seems like a younger crowd with little actual racing knowledge, just yippee for the orange or worship for the knight. Glad to see the youth but the ignorance is boring. At least Jax/Award has entertainment value mixed with the ignorance.
You and Shroppyfly acting like the chuckle brothers certainly raises a laugh or two
Hi there ,for
Me. When I took my driving test aggressive driving was not allowed, so why is f1 promoting Max’s driving what message are the sending out the guy cannot drive really it always works out most battles ends in collisions Marko an Chirstian are idiots for being so pushed up on aggressive driving they should be banned from the pit wall for two races for promoting aggressive driving live on tv
Jax/Award mmmm or Flipper and Lassie as ive renamed them,
maybe it should just be the thumb widget twins
You and Shroppyfly acting like the Chuckle brothers certainly raises a laugh or two.
F1 dont panic , your Lassie , the brains of the outfit, at least i think you are, flippers starting a shift at Maccies so you'll have to comment for him after his Taxi firm went belly up
Punctuation is overrated... :-)
It seems strange that Rolf Schumacher would worry about injuries. Didn't he ever watch Michael Schumacher crash out other drivers during his championship years?
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