Hamilton's new deal will keep him in F1 beyond 40 - an age at which he not long ago was saying he could not see himself still competing at the highest level.

In Montreal you have already seen that the field has moved closer together and it has become a bit tighter,” Schumacher wrote in a column for Sky Deutschland. Lewis Hamilton has identified Ferrari as a surprise contender for the Austrian Grand Prix victory this week, an outcome that would end Red Bull’s win streak at their home race. Racing beyond 40 Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton - with a combined age of 80 - are third and fourth respectively in the 2023 drivers' championshipCan you think about the possible Lewis Hamilton posters & prints to have? His fantastic helmets, cars, and memories, all with high-quality printing. You can select from different size options, from 42 cm x 59 cm & 30 cm x 42 cm dimensions to more than 152 cm x 101 cm (framed or not). I wouldn't mind, it doesn't matter, anyone [can be my team-mate]. I don't want to particularly put it on Lewis, there are so many great drivers as well. Sometimes it doesn't work out like that." He added: "If it's not next year, we will continue to work through it, but I truly believe that if it's not next year it will be the year after." Verstappen, who won on the street circuit, had been critical of the meeting’s focus on presenting a Formula One “show” in Las Vegas but on race day a gripping race was delivered. There was passing in abundance, the lead changing hands multiple times, and action across the field over almost all of the 50 laps. In my younger days, when I hadn't had a lot of success, maybe in the McLaren days, maybe it would have been a lot more attractive.

Nor that it has made the past two seasons, when they have fallen dramatically from competitiveness after failing to fully grasp how to get the best from the new set of rules, especially difficult to deal with.No one - least of all Hamilton and the team themselves - had any reason to think that the wholesale rewriting of the technical rules for 2022, and the reintroduction of ground effect, would leave them so far off the pace. Instead, Hamilton and Mercedes have found themselves battling for respectability since the start of 2022.

That evening under the lights in Abu Dhabi, there was not yet a sense that Mercedes would fall from the pedestal with quite such a thud.Senna's rivalry with Alain Prost in the late 80s to early 90s galvanized the sport, while stars like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have helped F1 become the global powerhouse it is today.

As ever, testing never gives a full picture of a team's woes or joys but it does go some way to indicating how they start the season. Hopefully we will have a clearer idea of how things are shaping up over the next three days. Joining what was very much a celebratory post-race assessment the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, was also optimistic of the impact it would have on the potential US audience. Red Bull’s motorsport advisor and native Austrian, Helmut Marko, believes Ferrari could win the race from as low down as P4 on the starting grid. This spectacular F1 driver never disappoints! His story is full of courage and talent, it’s not by chance that millions of fans wait for him each F1 season.Also I want my team to know because people think those things and it's never positive." 'Verstappen would not want me as team-mate...' Lewis Hamilton has won a joint-record seven Formula 1 Championship titles Aston Martin and Mercedes have narrowed the gap and Red Bull will suffer a bit from not being able to fully use the wind tunnel phase because of the penalty from last year.