Lewis Hamilton has thrown down the gauntlet today by saying that F1’s grandees will not allow a mere “drinks company” to dominate the sport.
The McLaren driver, presumably reacting to continued speculation that he will leave McLaren if the car is not competitive, said that marques like Ferrari and McLaren were intrinsically more special than Red Bull.
“They [Red Bull] have not been there as long as our teams. Our teams have got status they would like to keep,” the Englishman is reported as saying by Metro.
“Red Bull are not a manufacturer, they are a drinks company. It’s a drinks company versus McLaren/Ferrari history. I don’t know what their plan is. Our team is building to become a bigger manufacturer, like Ferrari, and I can only see our team being there for a ridiculous amount of time. It is a pure-bred racing team,” he added.
He rebutted the idea that Red Bull would dominate the sport.
“I am 100 per cent certain that neither McLaren nor Ferrari will ever let that happen,’ he said.
“For many, many years it has been McLaren and Ferrari at the front and now we have got a new team that has come and knocked us off the top. But I am really certain that either team will do absolutely everything in their power to make sure they can remain at the top,” he finished.
