“You’ve got to work twice as hard” – Lewis Hamilton highlights how young guns like Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are pushing him

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Saiyed Adeem Karim

Lewis Hamilton won his sixth F1 driver’s title last season but the likes of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen are keeping him on his toes

British racer Lewis Hamilton has highlighted how drivers such as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc are making him work harder.

The 35-year-old won an incredible sixth driver’s title last season as Mercedes dominated both championships, however, it wasn’t all great for the Silver Arrows.

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas celebrate another title for Mercedes (Image credit: Getty)

Charles Leclerc won a couple of races in his debut season with Ferrari while Max Verstappen finished the campaign well.

In the end, both racers couldn’t come close to Hamilton to put him under enormous pressure.

The 35-year-old spoke with GQ recently and revealed he is always trying to stay ahead of the game.

The Brit highlighted that he now has to work twice as hard thanks to the young guys doing their bit:

“It’s been relatively consistent in 2019, but there were some ups and downs. We always want to be able pull more out of qualifying, in particular, understand the tyres a bit better, extract more from the technology.

“And all these young kids are coming up and getting fiercer and fiercer. So you’ve got to work twice as hard.”

Hamilton went on to say that he loves what he does and there were always areas where he could improve on.

Young guns fired up

Hamilton might have a few more years left in him but Leclerc and Verstappen are both 22. They have a decade of quality racing in them, and it will be interesting to see how the 2020 season goes.

Max Verstappen workout
Max Verstappen celebrates at the Austrian Grand Prix (Image credit: Getty)

Lando Norris, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz all did well last year, and it is important that Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren produce quality cars.

Things could change a lot in 2021 when the new rules and technical specifications are brought into place.

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However, Mercedes and Hamilton could still end up leading the field.

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