SIR JACKIE STEWART has tipped Max Verstappen to beat Lewis Hamilton to the F1 title and declared: It’s time for a change.
The three-time world champion was in Mexico City where Verstappen won Sunday’s GP to open up a commanding 19-gap over Hamilton in the championship.
Hamilton was dejected at the end of the race and admitted he simply could not match Verstappen’s Red Bull for pace.
When asked to pick the championship winner after the four remaining races, Stewart sided with the Dutchman.
He said: “I think Verstappen is going to win it. I think the Red Bull now is going, the Honda is obviously good, very good, the team knows how to win.
“Mercedes-Benz has been doing this for so many years now and has been successful for so many years.
“It is time we had a change. For all of our viewers and everybody else, we need a change. It will only be a bigger challenge for Lewis to overtake again.”
While Stewart is confident, Red Bull’s design whizz, Adrian Newey, is remaining cautious about ending Merc’s seven-year domination of the sport.
Newey, who splits his time across refining this year’s challenger and next year’s new car, said: “You just cannot say [the title is Max’s], can you? It has been nip and tuck all year.
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“Obviously, going into Silverstone he had a healthy advantage and two races later we were completely on the back foot so everything can change.”
Meanwhile, Merc boss Toto Wolff says he is refusing to give up hope about overturning the deficit to Red Bull.
He said: “I’m a pretty realistic person, but I love motor racing, because anything can happen.
“None of us are ever going to leave this circuit with the mentality of this is going away from us.
“There’s four races to go, there’s four wins to take, four DNFs to suffer. And we will just continue fighting.
“We know we have a great team. Our car was exceptionally good in Turkey. And I think we have all to win.
“But when you look at the mathematical probability, obviously I’d rather be 19 points ahead than behind. But it is what it is.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
