‘He should have quit last year!’ – Red Bull advisor says Lewis Hamilton should have RETIRED after Abu Dhabi controversy
LEWIS HAMILTON has been told he should’ve quit last year after the Brit suffered his worst-ever weekend in his F1 career.
Hamilton admitted that he’s out of the Championship race already after his dismal 13th place finish at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
To make things worse, the seven-time world champion was LAPPED by bitter rival Max Verstappen in Imola.
And prior to letting the 24-year-old pass him, a graphic appeared on Sky Sports F1’s broadcast of the race cruelly showing the gap between the two.
Fans were left wincing when the Sky Sports graphic depicting the wide berth between the pair was shown.
One fan wrote on Twitter: “Yeah that’s kinda rough. really necessary F1?”, after witnessing the more-than 77-second difference that separated the duo.
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Hamilton’s poor performance has left him languishing 58 points behind leader Charles Leclerc in the driver standings.
There were rumblings that Hamilton was set to retire after he was essentially robbed of his eighth world title in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
A major mishap by former F1 race director Michael Masi saw Red Bull’s Verstappen clinch his first world title.
And Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko quipped that Hamilton made the wrong decision to continue racing following his nightmare on the weekend.
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Marko joked to Sky Sports: “I mean, he was lapped by us, so maybe he should have stopped last year.”
But Marko’s Red Bull compatriot Max Horner was more sympathetic to his Mercedes rival.
He said: “He’s obviously had a horrible weekend, but he’s still a seven-time world champion.
“He hasn’t forgotten how to drive in the last four races, so at some point, they’ll sort their issues out and he’ll become a factor, I’ve got no doubt. But obviously the young guys are doing a great job at the moment.”
But Verstappen was indifferent to Hamilton and Mercedes’ issues.
The Dutch ace said: “Mercedes has been slow all year, so for me it’s not anything exciting, it just happens.”
Hamilton’s schedule could be filled with football responsibilities if he does step away from F1 after this season.
The Brit will invest tens of millions into Sir Martin Broughton’s £2.5billion bid to buy Chelsea.
Hamilton spoke of his excitement about potentially taking over at the Blues and unveiled a number of plans he has to push the club forward.
Broughton’s bid is one of three in the running to replace Roman Abramovich.