Piquet Jr: Hamilton wouldn't enjoy such dominance if he had a stronger teammate

Nelson Piquet Jr, son of racing legend Nelson Piquet has been analyzing the racing talents of his new brother-in-law Max Verstappen. He also compared the dominance of Verstappen within Red Bull with that of Hamilton within the Silver Arrows.

Piquet speculates that Hamilton's dominance would not be as noticeable if he had to compete against an equally strong driver at Mercedes. He explained: "We saw this dominance of Hamilton walking with a good car, in the front, with a companion not giving him trouble ... When he had a companion giving him trouble, it wasn't like that, with Nico Rosberg." 

Piquet continued, as quoted by Motorsport.com: "But surely, if he had, all the time, [alongside] a pilot of the same caliber as himself, a [Fernando] Alonso, a Max, a [Daniel] Ricciardo, a [Charles] Leclerc, we would not we would be seeing this dominance in that way. But it is not what Mercedes wants, either ... It is much better for Mercedes to have the driver dominating, winning this way, than to have a fight within the team.”

Right place, right time

Winning in Formula 1 therefore depends not only on racing talent, but also on the large number of variables beyond that, including the willingness of a team to have one driver at the forefront. Hamilton therefore derives an advantage from his situation, believess Piquet: “I say again: it really is to be in the right place at the right time, in the right team, which is the one who wants to support him, wants him to be walking alone in front ... He doesn't want anyone fighting with him.”