Verstappen is the only driver who can beat Hamilton!

Max Verstappen is the only driver on the current F1 grid who stands a chance of beating Lewis Hamilton. That is according to Sky Italia pundit and former GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi, who admires Verstappen's self-belief and natural speed.

According to Valsecchi, the Dutchman is the man to beat Hamilton in a head-to-head championship battle, stating that his unparalleled speed at such a young age could give him the edge over the reigning world champion.

"He is extremely young, extremely good and extremely arrogant," Valsecchi told Formule 1.

"Although, arrogant may not be the right word. He has a lot of self-confidence: 'I am the best, fuck you'.

"I love that. Max is a killer, always aggressive and very fast. You need that to become champion.

"In my view, Verstappen is the only one who can beat Hamilton. He can cause panic in Lewis' head.

"It is deadly sin that Max does not have a champion car. Now Hamilton is unbeatable because he has no competition.

"Max is much better than Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas."

Valsecchi also added that if he was in charge of Mercedes or Ferrari, he would be on the phone to Verstappen immediately and would try to sign him as soon as possible.

"If I were Mercedes, I would contract Verstappen as Hamilton's successor: one world champion goes and the other comes. Perfect right?

"And if I was Ferrari and want to challenge Mercedes, I would get Verstappen immediately. Only I do not decide that unfortunately."