Hamilton lays down challenge to F1's new generation

Lewis Hamilton is confident that he can maintain his performance levels in the face of a new challenge from a clutch of young drivers making a splash in F1.

Max Verstappen has been a feature in the fight at the front of the grid for several years, with Charles Leclerc making a splash in his maiden campaign for Ferrari this year.

Lando Norris has shown promise in his rookie season at McLaren, while George Russell could be a future team-mate for Hamilton, having earned plaudits for his debut season in F1, despite looking likely to go scoreless across the year at a dismal Williams team.

Having largely seen off all-comers in his decade-plus in Formula 1, the six-time world champion is looking forward to tackling new faces in the years to come.

"It's inevitable that the youngsters are going to come through," Hamilton said.

"There's often a wave of young talent that manages to make its way through to Formula 1 and as I said, 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.

"And as I said, I think fortunately I feel that whilst the number shows a little bit higher, I feel like I'm able to still kick it with these guys and so I'm excited for the future racing with these guys.

"If we can get these teams to be closer then we're going to see more awesome battles and I think that would be great."

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