Following the conclusion of the Dutch Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton made an admission where he said that he was at par with Max Verstappen in terms of pace. Therefore, the fans could ask for a better race from Mercedes in the upcoming Italian Grand Prix. However, a couple of days later, the Mercedes driver came out with a dull forecast of ‘Verstappen dominance’ in Monza, as per GP Blog.
Verstappen won nine races in a row this season after he crossed the finish line at Zandvoort. One more win will see him break Sebastian Vettel’s record and for the fans, it was nothing but a “boring” one-man show.
However, Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen came out to defend his son against the ‘boring’ allegation. Nevertheless, seeing Verstappen win another race would be a sight only his fans would want, but Hamilton accepted the reality of the situation.
Lewis Hamilton’s forecast for the Italian GP
Hamilton recently opened up about the upcoming Italian Grand Prix at Monza and what fans could expect from him and Mercedes. When asked about it, the seven-time world champion said, “I have no clue how that will be.”
Following this, he revealed his prediction about Red Bull Verstappen, “Max will be long gone by seconds like he always is. And then I think for us, hopefully, we have a better weekend and we can maybe fight for a podium, which we should have this weekend.”
Admittedly, Hamilton has already made it clear that it will not be possible for anyone to beat the two-time world champion this season. So, hoping for a podium result could be his best shot at having a decent race weekend.
Is Max Verstappen unbeatable in 2023?
Max Verstappen has picked up 11 wins in 13 races so far. With that, he also increased his championship gap from his teammate Sergio Perez to 138 points. Furthermore, the massive pace advantage that the Red Bull RB-19 has this time around, makes the Dutchman unbeatable.
Therefore, Lewis Hamilton understands that it will not be feasible to try and beat Verstappen in an inferior W14. However, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris have a different opinion about this.
Both Alonso and Norris are confident about their upgrades for the upcoming races. Nevertheless, Hamilton would still be eyeing for a win if the opportunity comes given he is an advocate of never say never.
