Only Lewis Hamilton can challenge Max Verstappen for 2023 title, feels F1 pundit

Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson has faith in Lewis Hamilton as he believes that he is the only one who can pose an actual challenge to Max Verstappen in 2023 for the World Drivers' Championship.

Davidson believes that Hamilton, despite the awful season he and Mercedes have had so far, is still good enough to take down Verstappen and bring down his dominance. Davidson told Sky Sports:

"The only person I can see that can mount a serious challenge is Lewis Hamilton."

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will not be a new rivalry to hear about if it does happen in the upcoming season. Both drivers drove furiously throughout the 2021 season and had a historic title showdown in the last race of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Verstappen clinched the title from Hamilton after a last-moment Safety Car incident gave him the lead in the race. However, this year, Mercedes showed a lack of pace and were not at all a threat to Red Bull or Ferrari in the initial stages of the season.

Although Charles Leclerc was a challenge Max had to face at the start, the development of the RB18 and mistakes from Ferrari soon made it obvious that Verstappen had the upper hand. Max was the clear favorite to win the championship very early in the season.

Anthony Davidson feels that all great drivers get old at some point and leave the sport, leaving a benchmark for the greats to come. However, he is a little doubtful if Verstappen is at that stage because he believes Lewis Hamilton is still 'good enough without question' to challenge the Dutchman. Davidson said:

"But it’s never a given and I don’t know who the next Max Verstappen will be that comes along one day to bring the fight to him."

"But Lewis at the moment, he’s definitely still good enough without question and he’s the only one that can take this fight to Max (Verstappen)."

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Anthony Davidson believes Max Verstappen has the 'age' advantage over Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton is currently 37 years old, but that number hasn't really impacted his performance. Despite having a tough start to the season, he has almost caught up to the challenge up front.

Former driver Davidson believes that drivers start to lose performance as they age. Although he feels that is not currently a factor for Hamilton, it is inevitable that Verstappen will have that advantage over the Briton. Davidson mentioned:

"The problem is, as an older athlete, you start to lose a bit of performance. That hasn’t happened yet with Lewis, but at some point it’s inevitable and that’s the advantage Max has."

While Davidson believes in Lewis Hamilton for posing a challenge to Verstappen, at the same time he said that since Verstappen is more than a decade younger than Hamilton, the battle would be a bit 'unfair.' He also believes that it is great to see new talent come up in Formula 1 because it is not something that happens very often.