Mansell: Verstappen awesome, Hamilton can win eight

'Il Leone' as Tifosi called him when he raced for Ferrari, but 'The Lion' never won a F1 title for them, his came in 1992 with Williams, emblazoned with the iconic Red-5. These days he still follows the sport with enthusiasm and has some interesting in depth views of the sport which he shared during a multi-faceted interview with AceOdds.

The "Hamilton will be world champ again" call is a big one, as the seven-time F1 World Champion has not won since 2021, the longest stretch without a victory in his career. Yet Mansell believes, not only that victory 104 will come and even title eight.

In the wake of Max Verstappen wrapping up the 2023 F1 Drivers' World Championship with five Rounds still remaining, and this weekend's United States Grand Prix, Mansell said of Hamilton's prospects: "If Mercedes came up with a car, Lewis can do the job again, and yes, I believe he can win another World Championship.

"I think Lewis has an opportunity, which is almost cemented in place already. In my opinion, that is one of the greatest ever. And I think if you give him another world championship you know, that will set the benchmark so high, it'll be very, very difficult for anybody to achieve that again.

"So, you know, it's all open there for the taking. I think McLaren and Zach Brown and the team have done an incredible job to get to know both their cars now being on the podium, and literally a hair's breadth away from being as quick as a Red Bull. Such a fantastic achievement."

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, on 433 Verstappen tops the points and hunts a 15th win of the season. Hamilton is on 194 points and targeting Red Bull's Sergio Perez for P2. The Mercedes driver has not won a race since Jeddah 2021.

Asked if Verstappen could be named among the greatest drivers in F1 history, Mansell replied:"I've seen a couple of them! I think the easiest way to answer that is what the stats say from a personal point of view. I think he's done the most incredible job this year with the equipment that he's had.

"Verstappen has demonstrated that he's been on it from the get-go. He's improved through the year because Sergio Perez at the beginning of the year was right close to him and now Sergio is really struggling to keep pace. But I think Max Verstappen is awesome. And if he keeps going like this, obviously he can be challenging lots of the goals that everyone else has set.

"I don't think there's anything to hold Red Bull and Max back other than Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes. I think next year should be a very close season compared to what this year has been. I certainly hope it is for F1 fans.

One of the hot topics, literally and figuratively, after the Qatar Grand Prix is how the hot and humid conditions affected drivers badly. Several fell ill and even vomited on the night at Lusail.

Mansell said of the saga: "Well, it is a difficult question to ask, and I have tremendous sympathy for the drivers. I drove there if you remember, it was 2000, 2005, 2006, and we actually drove a Grand Prix Master's car there in September-ish or whenever it was.

"And it was so hot. It was incredible. And we didn't have power steering. We didn't have the aids on the car, and I specifically remember having to pre-hydrate so much to get the fluids in, but it's a tough track.

"It's a tough track to remember. It's an incredibly tough track to keep your concentration. But you know, I mean, the drivers, the physicality for me driving the F1 car was the steering wheel and hanging onto it when you're going around corners. I think power steering should take some of that physicality away.

"I actually have to say I'm surprised a little bit that a lot of drivers had the problems that they had. Some were obviously a lot more acclimated than others but it just goes to show that driving a F1 car is not an easy thing, is it?"

Also sullying the night was the track limits debacle, which Mansell commented on: "As an FIA steward years ago, we were told to ignore in some ways, and it was wrong because in our day, track limits were track limits and, you know, it'll make you laugh, but some of our track limits on the edge of the circuit were on barriers, so you couldn't overstep it because if you did, you hit a barrier and you had a bad accident.

"And there were other track limits where the curbs were so steep that if you went across the curb, it would actually damage the tub and could write the car off. Our motivation was to stay on track, and because they've anaesthetised some of the circuits and made them incredibly safe, it is so easy for the cars to drive off at even 200 miles an hour and drive back on, is it the fault of the driver or not?

"In some ways, it is because they're taking the chance, then you have to have the clerk of the course enforcing and recommending to the stewards there should be a penalty. I honestly think that some of the curbs should be raised up a bit so that they don't damage the car, but it upsets the car enough that if they go over it, it slows them down a lot.

"And if being slowed down doesn't give them motivation to stay on the circuit, then there's nothing to police. So it's a paradox, isn't it? You make things a lot safer but then you make it more difficult to police because you shouldn't be able to drive off the circuit as many times as they do and drive back on.

"I think every fan will agree that's not showing a skill level being able to do that, is it?" concluded Mansell on the matter.

The 70-year-old Englishman is a 31-time Grand Prix winner and apart from his 1982 F1 title, a year later he moved to Indycar and won that title too. An unprecedented record by Mansell, who is clearly still in tune and passionate about the sport he once ruled over.