Mercedes boss Toto Wolff downplayed Lewis Hamilton’s claims of having had stronger teammates than Max Verstappen, classifying it as “part of the fun”. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda, the Austrian executive said that the Dutchman has been exceptional, but the Briton did face world champions as teammates.
Lewis Hamilton recently claimed that the teammates he has had throughout his career were tougher opponents than the drivers Verstappen has driven alongside. The Dutchman responded by claiming that maybe the Briton is jealous of his achievements and that Mercedes aren’t used to losing.
Reacting to Hamilton’s claim, the Mercedes team boss said:
“First of all drivers like poking each other you know. But then you can say Lewis raced world champions. He raced Jenson, he raced Fernando, he raced Nico. But I dont think anyone reached his performance .. because Max in the car is outstanding. It’s just a part of the fun.”
The gap between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez has displayed the Dutchman’s ability to dominate his teammate and the grid. His former Red Bull teammates who were closest to him in pace were Carlos Sainz, who partnered him at Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo who partnered him at Red Bull and Alex Albon, who came close in his one-year stint at Red Bull. Perez and Ricciardo are the only drivers to have beaten the Dutchman in the same car.
At the 2023 Italian GP qualifying, Verstappen out-qualified Perez by over three-tenths of a second, whereas in Zandvoort it was a gap of almost 1.3 seconds. The gap between Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas was similar in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Prior to the Finn, the Briton had competitive teammates like Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and Nico Rosberg, who were world champions.
Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and George Russell are the only three teammates to have beaten the Brit in the same car in the championship standings.
Mercedes boss feels Ferrari should give Max Verstappen a run for his money
Toto Wolff believes that if it isn’t Mercedes winning in Monza, Ferrari should give Max Verstappen a tough time. The Austrian team principal felt that although the Ferraris have broken the Dutchman’s streak of consecutive poles, it remains to be seen if they can translate it into solid results in the race.
Praising the Red Bull champion and his flawless performances, the Mercedes chief still chose the Dutchman as his favourite for the Italian weekend. He felt both driver and car have been a powerful combination.
Commenting on Ferrari’s performance, Wolff said:
“It’s quite interesting because when you look at the weekend in the Netherlands, its a high downforce week, they were not very competitive and then you come here and they are giving it a big blast and Verstappen a run for the money. Whether they can really translate that into race pace tomorrow, in pace over the whole race needs to be seen.”
“I think for me Verstappen is still the favorite for the race over all, cause the car has just been so good and he has been faultless. But it will be good for Formula 1, if they give him a hard time. Seeing a Ferrari win in Monza, if it can’t be us then it should be a Ferrari.”
Although the two Ferrari drivers qualified first (Carlos Sainz) and third (Charles Leclerc), they are split by Verstappen in second place on the grid and trailed closely by Mercedes’ George Russell.
Similar to Wolff, both Ferrari drivers still feel the Red Bull will be better in the race and they might be handicapped by tyre degradation issues. The scarlet squad are fourth in the constructors’ championship and desperately need a solid double podium result to compete with Aston Martin and Mercedes for second place.
