Former team owner turned pundit Eddie Jordan says he’d like to see Lewis Hamilton join Max Verstappen at Red Bull in the future, as it would pit the current greatest driver alongside the “best young driver”.
Jordan believes Red Bull will have a stronger car in the future which would be attractive to Hamilton, who has yet to decide his future after this year – though an extended deal with Mercedes seems somewhat of a formality.
Speaking to Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport, Jordan heaped praise on both Hamilton and Verstappen.
“I personally believe that Lewis should go to Red Bull and not to Ferrari,” said the Irishman.
“I’ll tell you that is perfect because the best young driver of all of Formula 1 at the moment is Max Verstappen. There is no question about it.
“His style, his speed, his intellect, his control on the track. Also his arrogance. And grand prix winners and grand prix champions need a level of arrogance. That is obvious. And he has that.
“Whether he got it from Jos or whatever, I have no real idea, but the facts are that he has an unbelievable talent. And what I believe is if he had a team-mate like Lewis Hamilton, then I do believe he would be able to beat him.”
Hamilton is on course to match Michael Schumacher’s record seven titles and Jordan says there is no doubt he is one of the very best the sport has ever seen, and that’s something he says Verstappen can emulate once Red Bull get on top of their car.
“I think Lewis at the end of this year will be better than everybody,” he added. “I have to say that Lewis is on a level with Prost, Senna and Schumacher. And I think he is about to pass them, until Max gets himself sorted.
“Then once Max gets on a roll, he will be exactly the same. I don’t think Red Bull are far away. They are extremely close. And I think they haven’t really been that lucky this year.
“We saw the DNFs of Max and a few little issues, you know. [Alex] Albon finished third last race. I do believe that the engine, the Honda engine, has the equal or will be the equal very soon of the Mercedes.”
Christ on a bike, sometimes Eddie just goes completely brain dead.
Who in their right mind would leave the best team, with the best car, with the best staff, where you are completely ingrained, who are willing to pay you $60m/year, so that you can drive an inferior car, for half the money at best?