A small war of words has begun between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with the Dutchman playing down the Briton’s achievements.
Earlier this week, the Mercedes driver claimed he would welcome the chance to have Max as his teammate if only to prove he is as good as the 21-year-old.
Perhaps in response, Verstappen suggested Hamilton hasn’t proven himself by winning five titles, four of which came at his current team.
“There are a lot of good drivers around the paddock who are capable of winning five titles,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I have a great deal of respect for what Lewis has achieved, but you need luck in your team, and then be able to beat your teammate.
“Then, if the team is winning for a long time, the victories soon add up.
“Fernando Alonso would probably have won eight or nine titles in the right team because he was a brilliant driver,” the Dutchman noted.
“In F1 at the moment, there are three of four drivers of that capability.”
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Verstappen himself has been linked to a future move to Mercedes, potentially as soon as 2020 if certain performance clauses aren’t met in his Red Bull contract.
But team boss Christian Horner doesn’t see any movement for at least another year at least.
“Toto Wolff] has certainly not spoken to me about it,” he stated in the press conference on Friday.
“He speaks to almost every driver on the grid, so I would think if he has had a conversation it’s been direct not through the team.
“The situation with Max is clear and as with other drivers, there are always trigger points, but in terms of having those two [Hamilton and Verstappen] in one team, I haven’t heard from Lewis either that he wants to join next year.”
Horner also claims it is still more than possible for the two drivers to prove they are the best without having to be actual teammates.
“I think that ideally, we want to see teams going head to head and the drivers are obviously very much part of that team,” he said.
“It would be great to see Ferrari with their drivers, Red Bull with our drivers and Mercedes with their drivers all fighting it out, and whoever else can get up there as well.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that two drivers have to be in the same team.”
