Irvine: Hamilton ‘should have retired’ after 2021

Eddie Irvine believes Lewis Hamilton should have called time on his Formula 1 career at the end of last year.

The Northern Irishman, runner-up in the 1999 World Championship, thinks the seven-time Drivers’ title-holder will be finding his current struggles with Mercedes “frustrating”.

During an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Irvine discussed the 2021 battle between Hamilton and Max Verstappen which ended with the Red Bull racer snatching the crown in controversial circumstances at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Although the 56-year-old ex-Jordan, Ferrari and Jaguar driver says there is nobody faster than Verstappen, he also thinks the Dutchman’s aggression so nearly cost him last year’s title – which Hamilton would have “deserved”.

“Verstappen makes a mistake because he gets carried away with his aggression,” said Irvine. “I think Hamilton last year acted in such a way as to avoid accidents for quite a while.

“Then he must have thought ‘that’s enough, you want collisions? You’ll get them’.

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“And that almost cost Verstappen the championship because Lewis destroyed him in Abu Dhabi. It’s a shame he didn’t win it because he deserved it, but he