“Exceptional drivers like Lewis Hamilton can make a difference”: Max Verstappen heaps praise on 7-time World Champion for guiding Mercedes to World Title wins

Max Verstappen feels that exceptional drivers like Lewis Hamilton help make a team better, no matter how strong their car is. 

Verstappen and Hamilton were involved in a brilliant Title fight in 2021 which ended in the former’s favor. After last year’s intensity, many expected Verstappen to have a quiet year this time. While his fights have not been as intense, his performances have been just as (if not more) spectacular.

Red Bull went off to a slow start in 2022 due to reliability issues. Since then, however, Verstappen and Red Bull have been virtually unstoppable. The 24-year-old has a 109-point lead over second-placed Charles Leclerc in the standings. With just seven races to go, it seems highly unlikely that Leclerc or anyone else will catch up to the Dutchman.

In spite of that, a lot of people this year feel that Verstappen is ‘winning only because he has a good car’. His 2021 rival Hamilton himself suggested that the Dutchman’s wins have come down to Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey’s brilliance. This is something Verstappen does not agree with.

Also read: Max Verstappen can win 2nd F1 World Championship as soon as 2022 Singapore GP

Drivers like Lewis Hamilton make the car better, says Max Verstappen

Verstappen and Hamilton did not hold back when they took shots at each other during last year’s Title battle. This season, however, the two of them are not directly competing with one another, so there isn’t a lot of tension between them.

After his emphatic Dutch GP victory, a reporter asked him how he felt about Hamilton’s comments. While some people expected him to take a dig at the 37-year-old, Verstappen ended up praising him instead.

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“Your car is super important,” he said to Sportskeeda. “But when you’re an exceptional driver like Lewis as well you make a difference”

As things stand, Verstappen seems like the favorite to win the 2022 World Championship. A huge reason why Verstappen has such a huge lead can also be Ferrari’s own problems. For the majority of the season, they had a car that was capable of winning every single race. However, their own strategy goof ups ended up costing them a lot of points.

Also read: “I just lost it”: Lewis Hamilton apologizes to Mercedes after X-rated radio outburst during Dutch Grand Prix