Max Verstappen claims future battles with Lewis Hamilton 'will be interesting' with a contract extension

Max Verstappen claims the prospect of battling Lewis Hamilton in the future 'will be interesting'. The seven-time world champion is reportedly set to extend his contract with Mercedes for a few more years in an attempt to win a coveted eighth title in the sport.

Hamilton's current contract expires at the end of 2023, giving him a little over a year in the sport. The Briton, however, has revealed that he wants to stick with Mercedes for a while longer and will be trying his hardest to beat Michael Schumacher's record of seven world championship wins in the sport.

The Hamilton-Verstappen combination has given the sport some epic battles, especially in 2021, when the two battled all the way to the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi. Lewis Hamilton, however, has not been a candidate for the title fight this year due to his team's woeful performance since the start of the season. A potential contract extension would give him a chance to fight Max Verstappen once again in the coming years.

Verstappen reacted to news of a potential contract extension for Hamilton, saying:

"He has to do what he thinks feels right. As long as he wants to keep racing, he has to keep doing that. We've had great battles and I'm sure in the coming years all the teams will be a little closer together. So it will be interesting to see who will compete at the top."

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Max Verstappen claims he is not interested in breaking records

Max Verstappen claims he is uninterested in statistics and records after setting a new record for the maximum number of wins in a season at the 2022 F1 Mexican GP. He also broke the record for the highest number of points scored in a single season of the sport. The Dutchman, however, remains unbothered and claims he wants to carry on winning as many races as he can.

Max Verstappen told the media:

"I don't know. I was never really interested in stats. I just live in the moment. I just try to - of course - do the best I can every single weekend. I try to win the races and that, for me, is the most important. Every single weekend when I go home, and I can say to myself that I maximised or close to that I'm happy. But of course, a lot in Formula 1 depends on your whole package, right? And we are having a great package and I'm just enjoying the moment and I'm not that interested in keeping in touch with every stat. But of course, it is an amazing season and of course I'm very happy with winning so many races."

To truly beat Schumacher's win record by percentage, Verstappen will have to win both of the remaining races. Sebastian Vettel has already come out and said that it will be disappointing if the Dutchman doesn't win the remaining two races, giving the 25-year-old all the more motivation for the remainder of the season.