Hamilton wins getting 'boring' and young stars need to take over - Verstappen

Max Verstappen thinks the time has come for Formula 1’s young stars to start performing to a high enough level to break Lewis Hamilton’s dominance of the sport, which he describes as “boring”.

At the United States Grand Prix two weeks ago, Hamilton finished second, earning him enough points to claim his sixth world championship and his third in a row, which puts him just one behind the record held by Michael Schumacher.

However, at the same time, he has been pushed to his limit at times this season by the likes of Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who many believe will take the sport forward after Hamilton retires.

Verstappen wants them to take over sooner rather than later.

"I think it’s good for the sport to have the young guys now coming up and hopefully taking over very soon," the Red Bull star said at a CarNext.com sponsorship event.

"It’s getting a bit boring seeing Lewis win, so we have to try and change that. He’s getting older, so for sure it will stop at one point.

"It’s just going to depend on the team, to be honest. It’s not going to depend on Lewis.

"If Mercedes keeps building really dominant cars, for sure he’s going to win. So we just have to make sure as a team that we can beat them.

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"I think we are on the right path. When you see the engine power compared to Mercedes and Renault, we are very close to Mercedes now so that is very promising for next year."

Verstappen and Hamilton have, on occasion, exchanged a few frosty words, with the most recent spat coming after the world champion accused his younger colleague as having to be treated differently to other drivers due to his aggressive nature on the track.

The Dutchman, however, says the duo cleared the air in the United States.

"We talked on the grid," he said.

"I respect Lewis, of course, but we are also hard racers and sometimes it can be a bit more tough. But we talked and it’s all good."

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