Hamilton offers his congratulations to Verstappen for second F1 title

Max Verstappen has been crowned World Champion for the 2022 Formula 1 season. He has now won two titles in completely different styles. In 2021, he had to fight Lewis Hamilton hard right until the last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix whereas in 2022 he dominated the field.

Hamilton offered his congratulations to Verstappen in a conversation with Sky Sports and F1TV. The British driver has been off the pace because of an underperforming Mercedes car. The German team didn't get the best out of the new regulations. "Yeah, I think Red bull did an amazing job this year obviously with the car, so congrats to the whole team and to Max."

Mercedes have been playing catch up since porpoising caught them out during the pre-season tests in Barcelona and Bahrain. They have some hard work over the winter and Hamilton didn't provide a direct answer when asked if he would be able to fight Verstappen for the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.

"I think for us, we know what the problems are with this car. I believe we have not gone from being World Champions to not being able to build a good car. I have no doubts we will have a better car next year, whether we fix every issue we'll find out when we get there," Hamilton added.