"Life is not going to be getting easier for him" - Lewis Hamilton faces stiff competition in 2022, claims Christian Horner

Christian Horner predicts a difficult time for Lewis Hamilton in the near future of his career, especially in the upcoming season. The Red Bull F1 team principal believes the British champion will face stiff competition from his younger team-mate George Russell.

Predicting Lewis Hamilton’s future in the sport, Horner said:

“Lewis is going to be massively motivated this season. But he’s going to have more competition internally because he’s got a hungry competitive young team-mate who is going to be snapping at his ankles.”

Suggesting that Russell will be as competitive as the seven-time world champion in the upcoming season, Horner believes the British champion will receive stiff competition from within his team despite his renewed motivation.

Taking a swipe at Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton, Horner praised Russell as a talent and said:

“Life is not going to be getting easier for him, that’s for sure. George is going to be a big factor this year. He has been blisteringly quick in all the junior categories, he’s one of the standout talents and dealing with his drivers will give Toto a headache this year.”

Horner praised Russell’s talent, hailing him as one of the best junior drivers on the grid. Taking a jibe at Wolff, the Red Bull team boss suggested the Austrian will be agonized with internal competition within his team soon.

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Red Bull team boss believes Max Verstappen was equally deserving of title as Lewis Hamilton

The Red Bull team CEO blamed the British media for tainting Max Verstappen's maiden title with controversy and questioning his worthiness of being a world champion. Narrating the events of the Abu Dhabi race, Horner defended the reigning champion and suggested that there was too much written in the press about the events following the Safety Car of the season finale.

Voicing his opinion on the Dutchman’s maiden title being riddled with controversy, Horner said:

“In the UK media a lot has been made of it because Lewis is obviously a British driver, but I really don’t think so. Max was the outstanding driver last year. He had bad luck and things didn’t always go his way, too. It is too easy to get hung up on one event, and so much has been written about the safety car in Abu Dhabi. There was no gift for Max either. Lewis didn’t expect him to overtake where he did. When Max threw it down the inside into the hairpin, you could see it caught Lewis completely unaware. He left the door open.”

Apart from his comments in Barcelona, Horner also spoke on the talkSPORT podcast where he defended Verstappen’s title and criticized Mercedes for leaving the British champion on 44 lap old tires. The Milton Keynes outfit's chief was adamant that his team had tactically got their strategy correct compared to Mercedes in the season finale.