Hamilton: "The fans have been looking forward to this for a very long time"

If the Bahrain Grand Prix proves to be representative of the rest of the Formula 1 season, we could be in for the battle everyone has been hoping for: Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen. Hamilton, however, fears that Red Bull Racing's lead over Mercedes may grow in the coming races.

Nobody saw it coming: After years of dominating Formula 1, suddenly Mercedes don't seem to have the upper hand. A lot can still happen during the season, but the fact remains that despite the narrow victory in Bahrain, they were not the favourites for the weekend.

Hamilton fears increase in Red Bull lead

In qualifying, which is also usually dominated by Mercedes, Hamilton was four-tenths behind Verstappen. "In qualifying we can't match them," Hamilton said. With a clever strategy, Mercedes managed to take the victory in the end.

Hamilton himself explained that he is excited about the fight. "I'm really looking forward to it and I'm happy for the fans," he said in conversation with the Dutch branch of Motorsport.com.

"I think the fans have been looking forward to this for a very long time. Of course this was only one race, so we don't know what their speed will be like in the future. It's possible that they have a much bigger lead. , but we will do everything we can to try and stay close," Hamilton said.