Formula 1: Mark Webber says Verstappen & Hamilton need year off after 2021 drama

Former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber has said that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen could do with a year off from the sport after their epic duel over the course of the 2021 campaign.

Hamilton and Verstappen went toe-to-toe and wheel-to-wheel for the entirety of the season last year and it all came down to the final race, and final lap, in Abu Dhabi before the championship was decided.

Indeed, there remains ongoing fallout from what happened at the Yas Marina Circuit but both Lewis and Max will be back on the grid for 2022 ready to do it all again, though Webber says a year’s respite might be needed for the pair of them.

“It’s hard, I think we need a year off. They need a year off,” former F1 driver Mark Webber told Australia’s Channel 9.

“There’s still some old scars there that need some healing. It was a really tough finish for him mentally, at the end of last year,” said the Australian.

Hamilton, of course, went into a state of silence on social media following the events in Abu Dhabi and that left many wondering whether his future was going to lie outside of F1.

However, he has since broken that silence in recent days and has been at Mercedes’ HQ in Brackley ahead of the new campaign, so it’s going to be interesting to see just how he gears up for the new challenges that lie ahead in 2022.

Max, meanwhile, will be eager to try and defend his crown in his Red Bull.