"He couldn't even beat Max when he had a better car" - Fans divided on Lewis Hamilton's comments about Max Verstappen and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton recently shared an opinion on racing with Max Verstappen as his teammate.

Hamilton hinted that Verstappen would have had a very different time if he was in the other Red Bull and not the Mercedes. During a post-race interview, he stated:

"Do I wanna be as fast as him? Of course. Would I like to have a car that's as fast as him? Of course. I know if I was in Sergio's [Sergio Perez] car, Max would not be having the same time as he is having now."

Sergio Perez has had a few tough races this season. Although Perez somewhat made up for it in Belgium, he remained quite away from his teammate, Max Verstappen, who has been rather dominating.

Max Verstappen has been dominating the grid ever since the end of the 2021 season, when he defeated Lewis Hamilton to win his maiden world championship. He is now on his way to win his third consecutive title.

On the other hand, Hamilton hasn't had such a good time in the past two seasons, and many critics and fans believe his car is to blame. Mercedes has found it hard to develop a competitive car with aerodynamics of brilliance that can match Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton believes that if he was in a car like Sergio Perez's, he would have been much more competitive than the Mexican. He even seemed to hint that he perhaps would have defeated Max Verstappen.

Fans went into a frenzy on social media when this clip of Hamilton was shared on Twitter (X). One fan mentioned the 2021 season, saying:

"Lmao he couldn't even beat max when he had a better car than him, what makes him think he could do it as his teammate"

"Max would send him to retirement home before the summer break same as Perez. Little bro forgot he lost to [George] Russel last year," another fan wrote.

Here are some more reactions to Hamilton's comments:

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Red Bull advisor feels Lewis Hamilton is one of the drivers who can beat Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen's spell of domination since 2021 has hardly been threatened, and as mentioned, even his teammate Sergio Perez hasn't been able to defeat him. However, Red Bull advisor Dr. Helmut Marko believes Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso could pose a threat to Verstappen.

Speaking on the "F1 Nation" podcast, Marko stated that Hamilton and Alonso may have the potential to challenge the double-world champion. However, he admitted that it might not happen anytime soon.

"There won’t be any other driver who could stay with him on one level. Maybe [Fernando] Alonso and [Lewis] Hamilton would be nearer, but nobody could beat him at the moment."