Revealed: The achievement Lewis Hamilton ‘puts money’ on Max Verstappen reaching

Lewis Hamilton is willing to put his hard-earned cash on the line in belief that Max Verstappen will hit at least 18 wins for F1 2023.

Minus a bizarre blip in Singapore, Red Bull has otherwise been unstoppable in F1 2023, with Verstappen accounting for the majority of their huge victory total.

Red Bull has won 18 of the 19 grands prix so far, 16 of these going the way of Verstappen who, with his latest triumph at the Mexican Grand Prix, beat his own record for most grand prix wins in a single season.

Lewis Hamilton backs Max Verstappen to keep winning

In a season where Verstappen has obliterated the competition on his way to a third World Championship, in the process setting a new daunting standard for most wins in a season, the question is where does the dominant Dutchman go from here?

Asked this question after the Mexican GP, Verstappen set his sights on “17, 18” victories with three rounds of F1 2023 to go, and Hamilton would feel comfortable betting on Verstappen going all the way to 19.

“Hopefully, these next couple of races will be close,” Hamilton told reporters in Mexico.

“But I’d probably put money on it that [Max] will get to 18, 19 [wins] with that car.”

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Unlike in Austin, Hamilton’s latest P2 finish stood this time in Mexico, the seven-time World Champion crossing the line just under 14 seconds behind Verstappen.

With Hamilton having finished P2 to Verstappen at last season’s Mexican GP too, he says Mercedes are “mirroring” their F1 2022, as he calls for “big changes” heading into F1 2024 so the team can mount their first title challenge in this era of ground effect aerodynamics.

“It definitely gives us a lot of confidence,” he said of his 2023 Mexico GP performance.

“I mean, last year, at the same time, we were doing the same thing, but last year, I think we were three-tenths behind Max in qualy – or something like that, and I came second again but he walked off with it.

“So, we’re really just mirroring what we did last year.

“So, we have to make some real big changes for next year. Because obviously, in Bahrain earlier this year, they’re 1.5 seconds a lap faster than us at least. So the key is to make sure that’s not the case in Bahrain.”

Hamilton could potentially deny Red Bull a first one-two finish in the Drivers’ Championship, having narrowed his deficit to Sergio Perez to 20 points.

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