F1: I want Verstappen in the title fight: Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that fighting the same opponent gets boring after a while, and that he would relish a challenge with another rival, for example, Red Bull's Max Verstappen. He hoped it could be fulfilled.

"I do not always want to compete against the same rival. So I'm hoping that Red Bull will be competitive with the Honda engine next year. We need Max in the title fight," he told Blick.

"I need the fight, the challenge."

Verstappen had a brief battle with Lewis Hamilton at the Singapore GP last weekend as the duo came up to lap a couple of backmarkers, which was a bit of a hairy moment for all cars involved.

The Dutchman later claimed that it would have been unfair to pass the Mercedes driver when he was held up. It seems that little moment between has ignited the fire in Lewis Hamilton. The pair also had an earlier clash at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Verstappen's boss, Dr. Helmut Marko, also was full of praise for his protege. "Max did a great job in spite of the often haunted car," Marko said. "He is our hope of the future."

However, Marko was also cheeky about one of his former proteges, Sebastian Vettel. "I'm afraid that my prediction with Vettel as world champion was wrong!" he said in the wake of Lewis Hamilton being the favourite to win it after his Singapore pole and win.

The Austrian also admitted that Red Bull may have won their last race of 2018 already. "Unfortunately, there is hardly a track left where we have a great chance," said Marko.

Hamilton has culled the Ferrari challenge effectively despite his rivals having the faster car and a lot of it is down to his ability to drive flawlessly and bring out his best when needed. Of course, he has ably been aided by Vettel's own shortcomings during crucial points.

The German's former car designer, Adrian Newey, also admitted that the title may be too far for him this time as his mistakes have cost him dearly.