F1 News: Former Driver Insists Max Verstappen Should Replace Lewis Hamilton At Mercedes
David Kennedy, a former F1 and Le Mans racing driver, believes Mercedes should be looking into the potential of prying Max Verstappen away from Red Bull or Charles Leclerc away from Ferrari. This comes as the Brackley-based squad are in negotiations with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton for a contract extension.
Despite Verstappen's long-standing deal with Red Bull extending to 2028, Kennedy asserts that Mercedes should be pulling out all the stops to lure him, or alternatively, Charles Leclerc, to step into Lewis Hamilton's shoes.
While Hamilton's contract with the team is due for renewal at the end of this year, the expectation is that he will extend his commitment. The British driver has assured fans that he is not close to retirement yet and is eager to fight for his eighth championship win. However, with Hamilton being the second-oldest driver on the grid, Kennedy believes the team should be focussing on the younger drivers.
During an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com, Kennedy analysed the situation in Mercedes. He explained:
“You’re looking at the three elements of a driver: you’re looking at his ability to be able to extract the best from the team and the car.
“It’s probably not as important as it used to be as the engineers do the vast majority of that now.”
Kennedy stands by his suggestion that seasoned drivers like Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, may not possess the same blistering single-lap speed they once had in their youth. Although, Alonso is proving this statement wrong with his fantastic start to the 2023 season. He also believes that as a driver advances in age, he tends to lose a touch of his qualifying speed, though his race pace remains almost undiminished. He cites Verstappen's victory in Monaco as evidence of this raw speed advantage.
“The second element will be that absolute raw speed that you’ve got, which Hamilton had.
“And Verstappen has, and then you’ve got the race pace.
“To lead a team, if you’re looking for next year, I’ve seen it over the years that after 35/36 and getting up in years, you just lose that small fraction of qualifying pace.
“Your race pace is nearly indistinguishable and you can take that with you going on well up in the years, but it’s that raw speed that you lose.
“We saw in Monaco that was the game changer that won the race for Verstappen.”
In light of this, he proposes that Mercedes should be willing to delve deep into their pockets to lure Verstappen from Red Bull. Although this seems unlikely in the near future, especially with the Austrian teams ongoing incredible dominance compared to Mercedes' battle to get back to the top.
Kennedy is confident about his recommendation, stating, "If I was Mercedes, I’d be putting down the money for Verstappen!” He acknowledges Hamilton's remarkable career but notes that as with any driver, age brings a slight decline in performance.
Kennedy also suggests that Mercedes could turn their attention to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who will be out of contract in 2024. Despite rumours of a potential seat swap, both parties have dismissed such speculation. He concludes:
"If you want the best of the best for the future, I think you have to look at Charles [Leclerc] and Max Verstappen to build for the future.”
The reality of this happening seems slim. Both Alonso and Hamilton are still proving that their age is not a problem as they currently sit in third and fourth position in the 2023 drivers' standings. Mercedes also have a strong relationship with the seven-time champion which goes beyond the race track. Also, the strong rivalry between Red Bull and Mercedes makes it hard to see either Verstappen or Hamilton with the other team.