Sebastian Vettel, who finished second to Lewis Hamilton twice, hopes Max Verstappen does a better job than he did in ending the Brit’s dominance.
Outside of Mercedes, Verstappen and Red Bull have replaced Vettel and Ferrari as Hamilton’s main title rivals.
Vettel joined Ferrari in 2015 with high hopes of adding to his four Drivers’ Championship titles, but he fell short, most notably in 2017 and 2018, when he finished second to Hamilton.
Those two seasons were especially disappointing because many pundits thought Ferrari had the better car, but there were simply too many mistakes made by the driver and the team.
It’s now Verstappen’s turn to take on Hamilton, with the Dutchman owning a six-point lead in the title race with six races remaining.
Vettel is hoping to be able to finish the race.
“I hope that Max has a better car at the end, or better position to be in at the very end, because the fights that I was [in] with Lewis, unfortunately, we were not as competitive to really give him a hard time in the end,” he said as per Motorsport.com.
“So I think it was quite clear and fairly easy for him to win the championship in the end.”
The now-Aston Martin driver is enjoying watching the duel at the front of the grid, which has enthralled Formula 1 fans since the season’s opening race.
The German hopes that the two can keep it clean in the run-up to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen and Hamilton have already been involved in two major incidents this season, with Verstappen collapsing at the British Grand Prix and both drivers failing to see the checkered flag in Italy.
“I think rivalry is good for any sport,” he said. “But I’m a huge fan of rivalry with respect. And I think we’re seeing a very clean fight so far.”
Vettel has already stated that he wants Verstappen to win this season in order to prevent Hamilton from breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of seven World Championships.
“I would be happy if Max wins the World title this year,” he said earlier this year.
“That would mean Michael Schumacher would keep his record of seven titles. Michael is my hero, as everyone knows, and that’s why I would be happy if Max makes it.”
He added: “One thing is clear to me: if Lewis makes it and gets his eighth title, then he deserves our full respect.”
The uniforms of Formula One racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
