Formula 1 Champion Max Verstappen Claps Back At Rival Lewis Hamilton After Comments

When all is said an done, Lewis Hamilton will go down in history as one of the best Formula 1 drivers of all-time.

Meanwhile, rival Max Verstappen is very quickly building a resume that appears it will challenge or even surpass Hamilton’s one day.

So it’s no big surprise that while the two have cultivated a respectful working relationship, they’re still not very big fans of one another.

Hamilton is a seven-time series champion, including four consecutive championships from 2017-2020 for Mercedes. Verstappen and his Red Bull team were responsible for ending that reign of dominance in 2021 and then repeated the feat in 2022. It also appears Verstappen is well on his way to third championship in 2023.

Any driver worth his salt will tell you that ability can only take you so far. Driver’s need a car capable of winning races in order to truly compete.

During Hamilton’s incredible run, one which saw him win six championships in seven years, Mercedes was utterly dominant. Now it’s Red Bull, however, that is the cream of the crop. Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez have combined to win all nine races thus far this season and have shown no sign of slowing down.

Hamilton believes this gives the team an unfair advantage as it can already begin to look ahead to 2024.

And yet it’s the same advantage that Hamilton’s Mercedes team enjoyed for much of the 2010s. This led Verstappen to wonder why his rival did not speak out about the issue sooner.

“We weren’t talking about that when he was winning his championships…so I don’t think we should now,” Verstappen said in response to Hamilton’s comments.

Ultimately, such a rule would be nearly impossible to actually implement or enforce. But you can understand Hamilton’s frustration having had the dominant car for long.