LONDON, (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton will be fired for a fight with Max Verstappen this season but Formula One’s most successful driver may not be in a hurry to commit to 2022, according to 1996 world champion Damon Hill. Mercedes driver Hamilton can win the eighth world championship ever after matching Ferrari’s seven great Michael Ferraumacher.
The 36-year-old Briton is also expected to become the first driver to win 100 prix grandchildren, now counted at 95, but his latest contract only runs until the end of this year and the future remains uncertain.
Mercedes seemed to be struggling in pre-season tests, although there are still some who suspect the team is hiding their true performance, while Red Bull Verstappen looks fast and reliable.
“If it’s a battle between him and Max then I think he’ll take pride in that,” Hill, now an analyst for British Sky Sports F1 television who broadcast all the races, told reporters on a video call before Grand The opening Bahrain Prix on Sunday.
“It looks like there’s a change of form … my hopes for a championship are much tighter.”
Mercedes has won the last seven driver and builder titles, followed by Red Bull who won four consecutive doubles.
Hill, who won his title with Williams and retired in 1999 after a difficult final season with Jordan, said it wasn’t easy knowing when to stop.
“In some ways I’m not surprised it’s a one-year deal because … towards the end you don’t want to be committed,” he said of Hamilton’s position.
“What you don’t want to be doing is racing when you don’t want to, which is the position I found myself in. Halfway through the season I thought ‘Right, I want to throw in the towel’ and I couldn’t. ”
Hill said it was difficult to get into Formula One but sometimes it was harder to leave in the right way.
He referred to former Hamilton teammate Nico Rosberg, who quit days after winning the 2016 title, and triple champion Jackie Stewart who also went out on top.
“I don’t think Lewis will want to hang around if he doesn’t see the opportunity to be fully involved in the fight to win races,” said Hill, 60.
“I don’t think he necessarily wants the dominant car and wins everything, I just think he wants to know he can win races and he knows he’ll win championships if he can get that car . ”
Major rule changes are coming next year, giving competitors hope to end Mercedes, and Hill felt that Hamilton, if undecided about his future, would want to see what the wind was like is blowing. “He’ll want as much information as possible which means leaving it as late as possible,” said Hill, who was torn between supporting Hamilton and Verstappen for the title.
“I have a gut feeling that Max could fake this, that’s how my gut is going right now,” said the British.
“But when we get off this call my senses return and I immediately realize that I have underestimated the power of the Hamilton-Mercedes train.”