In the round-up: Lewis Hamilton has missed his best opportunity to retire while on top of Formula 1 and should step down, says three-times world champion Jackie Stewart.
In brief
Retiring would be “wiser” move for Hamilton – Stewart
Stewart, who left F1 at the end of the season in which he won his third title, told The Convex Conversation why he believes the time has come for Hamilton to retire.
“He’s done extremely well,” said Stewart. “He came from modest beginnings. His father had four or five jobs to afford his karting before a man called Ron Dennis picked him up, because he was so good at karting, and took him into McLaren and got him to win grands prix. He’s very talented.”
“When it came time to leave, it was his decision, not Ron Dennis,” Stewart continued. “It was Lewis Hamilton’s decision to go to Mercedes-Benz because he saw the potential of what they had to offer.”
After winning seven world championships, Stewart believes Hamilton is “now struggling a little bit because he’s had a new team mate who’s been quicker than him in qualifying so far this year, which is going to be difficult for him to handle. But I think it’s time for him to resign.”
Hamilton has shown he has interests beyond F1 he is eager to pursue. “He’s got music, he’s got culture. He loves clothing and the rag trade would be absolutely suitable for him,” said Stewart. “I’m sure he’ll be very successful because he’s been earning a huge amount of money – rightfully so, because he’s been the best of his time.”
Stewart believes Hamilton should step down instead of risk spending years not being able to compete. “I would like to see him resigning now,” he said. “It’s a pity he wasn’t resigning at the top. But I don’t think that’s going to happen now. But nevertheless, it’s wiser to stop than go through all the pain of not being able to do what you did before.”
Albon hoping Silverstone upgrade will materialise
Alex Albon says Williams are aiming to bring some improvements to their car for the team’s home grand prix next week.
“We’re going to Silverstone, hopefully we can see how our updates are doing and if we can get them in time,” he said.
Albon took points finishes for the team in Australia and Miami but has not scored since. “Everyone’s been upgrading, we haven’t had a major upgrade in a while now, so there’s that side to it,” he said. “Balance-wise,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at RaceFans…