Max Verstappen won Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso finishing second and Lewis Hamilton third; The trio of world champions shared generous praise for each other following the race; Verstappen moved 69 points clear at the top of the drivers' standings
Monday 19 June 2023 14:32, UK
Lewis Hamilton says a 2021-style "super tight" Formula 1 world championship battle with Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso would be "sick".
The sport's only three active world champions finished on the podium in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix, with Verstappen claiming Red Bull's 100th F1 win and Aston Martin's Alonso holding off the Mercedes of Hamilton for second.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has endured a frosty relationship with Alonso since the pair fell out when McLaren team-mates in 2008, while the Brit was involved in one of the most intense title battles in the sport's history when Verstappen secured his maiden triumph in 2021.
However, with Verstappen's dominant form leaving Alonso and Hamilton left fighting for the scraps of second place, more warmth appears to have developed between the Mercedes driver and his rivals.
"It's just a privilege to be up here fighting these two, who have done incredible in their careers," Hamilton said after the trio finished on the podium together for the second time this season, having also done so in Australia.
"This is quite an iconic top three - I don't know if there's been a top three like this ever before, I don't believe there has.
"I'm really hoping at some stage we have a more level playing field in our cars and then we'll have much more exciting races in the future.
"I'm happy to be back in the mix, and I'm just hoping at some stage we can be a bit more level so we can get back to some of the good races we had back in 2021.
"To have all three of us in a super-tight battle would be sick."
While Alonso began the afternoon with aspirations of ending Red Bull's streak of seven wins to start the season, his task was swiftly altered when Hamilton took second away from him at the opening corner.
Alonso took advantage of his upgraded Aston Martin to battle back past Hamilton shortly after the opening round of pit stops, but ultimately lacked the pace to take the fight to Verstappen.
"It's good, it's great," two-time world champion Alonso said. "I really enjoy these battles. This podium happened in Australia, I think last time, and now here.
"There is a lot of respect, a lot of talent, when you fight against Max, Lewis, you know that you cannot make a mistake because they will take advantage of that and they will not make a mistake.
"So if you want to beat them, you need to be tenth after tenth faster to close that gap, it's not anything that will benefit.
"It's a very intense battle, very fair, very respectful. Even the overtaking possibility that we had on the DRS for me when I passed Lewis, you know that you can trust what he's doing - he will defend hard but within the limits.
"(It was the) same at the start - I guess when you start on the front two rows with these guys, there is a sense of awareness and respect that is not sometimes in other parts."
Verstappen strengthened his grip on the world championship by extending his lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to 69 points.
A fourth successive race victory for the 25-year-old Dutchman has put him firmly on course for a third successive drivers' title, while a 41st career win saw him draw level with Ayrton Senna in fifth on the sport's all-time wins list.
While Verstappen is building a special legacy of his own, he reserved some highly respectful words for the 41-year-old Alonso and 38-year-old Hamilton.
"I remember back in the day I was watching these two already in Formula 1 racing each other," Verstappen said.
"So, of course, I'm very happy now that I'm in F1 as well, racing them is probably one of the best things out there.
"When we can share a podium together, we've done it a few times, I think it's great. I think they want to swap positions, of course, I'm happy in the middle at the moment."
