04 January 2024 , 16:19
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Despite recent public clashes between them, former Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone still wants Lewis Hamilton to win the title again.
The Brit has seven to his name but it is rival Max Verstappen who has been ruling the roost in recent times. The Red Bull racer followed up his narrow success over Hamilton in 2021 with two much easier title wins.
And over those past two seasons, the Mercedes racer has not won a single race - the longest victory drought of his F1 career by far. He will hope his team can build a better car for the upcoming 2024 campaign so he can put that unwanted run to an end.
Not only does Ecclestone, 93, want Hamilton to add to his 103 career wins, but he would like to see him finally claim that elusive eighth title before retiring. "I hope he makes it. He would then make history," he said.
Ecclestone's support of Hamilton's title aspirations comes despite some public swipes at one another in recent years. In 2022, the Mercedes racer called him out along with several other "old voices" of the F1 world after the former F1 chief defended Nelson Piquet over his racist slur aimed at Hamilton.
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Hamilton told reporters at that summer's British Grand Prix: "In the last couple of weeks, I don't think a day has gone by when someone who has not been relevant in our sport for decades has not been saying negative things and trying to bring me down.
"Formula 1, the media, we should not be giving these people a platform. I've always tried to be respectful to these individuals but why did we give these guys a platform? They are not with the time, they are not willing to change."
Several months later, those comments were put to Ecclestone in an interview with The Telegaph. And the nonagenarian snapped back: "Maybe the older generation are not interested in listening to what he has to say."
Regardless of what anyone hopes for Hamilton in 2024, the reality is Verstappen and Red Bull will be favourites again for the title. They were so dominant last year that the team got a significant head-start on its rivals in terms of developing its new car, sparking fears of another performance chasm.
After watching Verstappen at his very best, Ecclestone was remined of Michael Schumacher - but still thinks there is one thing that sets them apart. He added: "Max Verstappen has a bit of him in him. "Max isn't as merciless as Michael was, because Michael didn't even think about making compromises."