Max Verstappen has hit back at a previous remark from Lewis Hamilton that Red Bull’s RB19 is the fastest Formula 1 car he’s ever seen.
Hamilton’s claim arrived after Verstappen – recovering from a driveshaft failure in qualifying – flew by the Mercedes on the start-finish straight in Saudi Arabia.
That came following an opening race in Bahrain where Verstappen finished 38s clear of the closest non-Red Bull car despite being told to maintain his pace late on.
While both Mercedes’ got the jump on Verstappen in Australia, the reigning champion breezed past Hamilton shortly after on his way to a first ever F1 victory in Melbourne.
Red Bull may have won all three races convincingly, but Verstappen maintains Hamilton’s comments are redundant with his own claim that his team aren’t as dominant as Mercedes once was.
“I think if you look at the statistics, those statements are not correct,” he said via RacingNews365.
“But we also have a very good car! There is of course nothing wrong with that. Yet we are not as dominant as Mercedes has shown in some years.”
Before the technical rules were reset last year Mercedes had romped to a record-breaking eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships, including six Drivers’ titles for Hamilton in that dominant period.
However, since the regulations were overhauled the German outfit has only tasted victory once, with Hamilton failing to score a pole position or race win in an entire season for the first time last year.
Verstappen, meanwhile, has soared to new heights since his first title success in 2021 by standing on the top step of the podium in 17 of the last 25 grands prix to be held.
Although Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted he was flattered by Hamilton’s opinion, Verstappen has underlined that he hasn’t paid much attention to his ex-title rival’s words.
The reigning World Champion has also stuck the boot in on Hamilton by suggesting that making such comments won’t help him or Mercedes in any way.
“I don’t spend much time with that, but it won’t help you either,” the two-time champion added.
“Whatever we have done in the eight years that Mercedes is so dominant… We also tried to close the gap, that’s all you can do!”
Victory for Verstappen in Australia – his second of 2023 – extended his championship advantage over team-mate Sergio Perez, who could only recover to fifth after starting the race at the back, to 15 points.
Providing the 25-year-old maintains his lead to the end of the season Verstappen would join Hamilton as one of only five drivers in F1 history to win three consecutive Drivers’ Championships.
