Over the last few years, Max Verstappen has developed a very strong rivalry with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. After their tussle for the title in 2021, it has mainly been Verstappen who has been coming out on top. In fact, Verstappen is currently dominating the rest of the grid, including Hamilton by quite a comprehensive margin. Despite the rivalry, however, Verstappen admits that he wouldn’t mind having Hamilton as his teammate.
After the onset of the turbo-hybrid era, Mercedes kickstarted an era of dominance. Between 2014 and 2020, they won all world titles, but that baton of dominance passed on to Red Bull the very next season when Verstappen won the world championship. Since, then, the F1 championship has been a one-horse race in favor of the Red Bull driver.
Both Mercedes and Red Bull, along with their star drivers have been tremendously successful in F1. However, they operate very differently and are led by two very different team principals. This difference is what makes Verstappen sure that he can jump ship to Mercedes, and succeed with Hamilton as his teammate.
Mercedes and their rivalry with Red Bull
Red Bull and Mercedes have been the two most successful teams in F1 since 2010. However, they are very different in almost every single aspect. This success and difference have led to an iconic rivalry between these two great outfits, led by Christian Horner and Toto Wolff respectively.
Despite this, Verstappen is open to joining a ‘very different Mercedes’. “It is indeed a very different environment,” he said to De Telegraaf when talking about a potential Mercedes move. “It’s always important to be yourself and keep telling it like it is. Then it doesn’t matter to me where that is.
“If a team really wants me in such a situation, they will also go for you and I think you can also slightly adjust certain things. Then you come together, so to speak.”
However, even though Verstappen admitted that he is open to joining Mercedes, it doesn’t look like a move that will materialize anytime soon. With Red Bull, he has achieved a huge amount of success, winning 45 races and two world championships. Additionally, it doesn’t look like he is stopping anytime soon.
Max Verstappen could have never foreseen his success
Verstappen is currently first in the drivers’ championship, 125 points ahead of second placed Sergio Perez. As things stand, he is the hot favorite to seal his third championship victory as early as the Qatar Grand Prix. However, when he joined Red Bull all those years ago, he could not foresee how much he would achieve.
“In the past, I never could have imagined that I would achieve this success,” the 25-year-old said. “I dreamed of reaching Formula 1 and maybe one day driving for a top team. This is what I’ve always worked for.”
Max Verstappen: dominant and imperious 🤩
Watch our top 🔟 moments of Verstappen brilliance, after he wrapped up his second world title!#F1
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 13, 2022
The Dutch driver won eight races in a row leading up to the summer break, and with the unstoppable RB19 at his disposal, he is showing no signs of slowing down.
