Verstappen: "Definitely he is one of the best ever in Formula 1"

Max Verstappen is set for a very special season. The Red Bull Racing driver can finally compete with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes and that is expected to cause a lot of excitement over the next 22 races. Knowing Verstappen, he will not let this happen, although he has a lot of respect for his rival.

The picture in Formula 1 has been mostly the same over the past decade. Hamilton has been supreme in his Mercedes for many years, and only in 2016 did he have to tolerate Nico Rosberg ahead of him in the world championship. This season, Hamilton is having a harder time of it, as the opening race in Bahrain showed. In it, Hamilton finished in first place, but had to fight pretty hard for his position.

Verstappen is known in Formula 1 as his future successor. The Dutchman has little awe for Hamilton, but thinks he is the best driver in the sport. "Of course you have to give credit to Lewis for the way he has dealt with all the years," he told Autosport. "To always come back and be honoured and win that amount of races and championships. You definitely cannot go around Lewis."

Role of Mercedes

Critics claim that Hamilton mainly wins races because he has a good car at his disposal. Verstappen, however, sees it differently. "Of course, there are still a lot of other people in Formula 1, I think who are very good, very strong, and would have been very good in that car as well. But still, of course, the way Lewis has won and also sometimes in tricky races - like last year in Turkey, to win that race, I think he did very well. Yeah, definitely he is one of the best ever in Formula 1.”