Lewis Hamilton is still trying to claim another Formula One championship title - but not everybody associated with Mercedes is hoping he’s successful.
Max Verstappen currently leads the driver standings by 12 points with just five races to go, with Red Bull hoping their man takes the crown to give them a first victory since 2013, with Mercedes having won all seven championships since then.
The assumption would be that everybody associated with the organisation wants them to continue that run, but apparently not.
Hubert Haupt competes in the DTM championship with three Mercedes cars for HRT, the team he owns, but told Sport1 that outside of his own competition, he has no specific allegiance to Mercedes. As such, he’d like to see a change at the top of the pile in F1.
“I think it’s time for someone other than (Lewis) Hamilton to become world champion," Haupt said.
"In terms of Formula 1, it would be huge for Red Bull to win the title, so I hope Verstappen manages it.
“There are still a few more circuits that suit Mercedes, but if Max scores well in the next two races, he will have the nerve to hang onto it.”
The upcoming races are in Mexico and Brazil, with Hamilton triumphant in Mexico City the last time a race was staged there, in 2019. However, prior to that year Verstappen had claimed victory in back-to-back seasons at the track - and the Dutch racer also won in Brazil in 2019, with 2020’s visit cancelled due to the pandemic.
This headline of this article was amended on 4 November 2021. It originally referred to Hubert Haupt as being a ‘Mercedes boss’, but he does not work for Mercedes.
