Lewis Hamilton knows a thing or two about dominance. Apart from dominating Formula 1 with Mercedes, he also drove during the Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull era. He has also talked about growing up as a driver during the era of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari. Therefore, he heaped praise on Red Bull and Max Verstappen for dominating the sport like they are doing currently. However, he opined that Max hasn’t had teammates who can challenge him.
“Red Bull are firing on all cylinders”
Lewis Hamilton was lavish in his praise of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. He compared how Max is driving currently to how Schumacher, Vettel, Raikkonen, and Alonso drove. He also said Red Bull as a team have been firing on all cylinders.
Lewis Hamilton mentioned the team have a great car, a great pit crew, great mechanics, and a great strategy team. Their Formula 1 dominance is a testament to how strong they’ve been. However, he does question the caliber of Max Verstappen’s teammates.
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“All my teammates have been stronger”
Lewis Hamilton feels that all of his teammates have been stronger than the teammates Max Verstappen has had. He mentions Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, and George Russell. After being prompted, he mentions Nico Rosberg as well, the only Mercedes teammate he lost the title to.
Lewis Hamilton has made a fair observation this time around. Even Valtteri Bottas has more wins than any of Max Verstappen’s teammates. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso alone has more wins and championships than all of Max Verstappen’s teammates. Nico Rosberg can claim the same, while Button has 1 win less than the collective tally.
During his dominant era at Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton always had a teammate who could challenge him regularly. While Valtteri couldn’t do it for a full season, Rosberg even managed to beat Hamilton to a Formula 1 title.
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But Max Verstappen can only drive one car. He doesn’t choose what happens to the other seat. Are Red Bull robbing us of a title fight? Or is there no one who can currently challenge Max Verstappen in Formula 1?