Hamilton: I can still ‘kick it’ with future F1 stars

Jamie Woodhouse
Lewis Hamilton says the future of F1 is bright, but warns he is still "kicking it" against the young guns.

Lewis Hamilton says the future of F1 is bright, but warns he is still "kicking it" against the young guns.

Lewis Hamilton believes the upcoming stars of F1 make for a very bright future, but he can still “kick it” with them.

The Briton secured his sixth World Championship this season, while also leading the way in Mercedes’ journey to a sixth Constructors’ Championship in a row.

But the crop of young hopefuls looking to put an end to Hamilton’s dominance is only growing, with Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc leading the way.

The problem for them is that Hamilton still feels on top of his game, committed to F1, and knows he can still “kick it” with the next generation.

“It’s inevitable that the youngsters are going to come through,” he is quoted by Motorsport.com.

“There’s often a wave of young talent that manages to make its way through to Formula 1.

“I think Formula 1’s got a lot of new young blood with a lot of potential and they really are the future of the sport.

“Fortunately I feel that whilst the number [of years] shows a little bit higher, I feel like I’m able to still kick it with these guys.

“So I’m excited for the future, racing with these guys and if we can get these teams to be closer, then we’re going to see more awesome battles like [Brazil] and I think that would be great.”

Try as he might Hamilton couldn’t find a way to crack the Verstappen code with the Dutchman taking the win at Interlagos, while Hamilton also lost out in a drag race to the line for P2 with Pierre Gasly, making that a double triumph for Honda power over Mercedes.

Hamilton hopes that was a sign of Honda being a serious challenger in 2020 to make it a three-way battle for the Championship.

“The Honda’s obviously made some big steps and it’s great to see another manufacturer as strong as they are now,” he said.

“It means that hopefully next year we’re going to have a serious three-way, four-way battle and that’s great for Formula 1.”

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