Red Bull Urged to Confront Deepest Fears after Hamilton’s Belittlement of Verstappen Raises Serious Questions

The 2023 Italian GP is now the race in which Max Verstappen etched his name in F1 history with his 10 race wins in a row record. A record that will be remembered for years to come and probably not be broken anytime soon. This record highlights how incredibly dominant the Dutchman is in the current season, similar to the 2022 season. In fact, that is the story of the Red Bull man from the start as he became increasingly dominant after coming to age. We have already seen how dominant Verstappen is and his teammates face the brunt of it. However, Lewis Hamilton recently questioned this narrative and he is gaining traction on these claims now.

Ahead of the Italian GP, Hamilton claimed Verstappen’s dominance over his teammate“gets blown up a lot more”. According to the Brit, he has faced a bigger challenge and tougher opponents in terms of his teammates. Hamilton’s belittlement of Verstappen gained support from Spanish journalist Jesús Balseiro on the F1 Nation podcast.

Balseiro said, “I can only agree. Lewis had world-champion teammates. I can think of Jenson, Fernando, and Nico Rosberg who beat him for world champion. So yes, he’s right that doesn’t mean that Max has less value, that’s not true. But I would like to see, especially now with that strong Red Bull, now we compare this Red Bull with maybe the McLaren with Senna and Prost times. I would like to see a great champion in the same car as Max to see what the decision can be about.”

Red Bull often has followed the structure of having a No.1 & a wingman teammate or so it panned out. With Sergio Perez, this narrative has continued. There have been talks of getting a more competitive young talent like Lando Norris on the Milton Keynes team. However, this has become an innate fear of whether it could create teammate tension between Max & Lando.

Read More: After Signing $127,000,000 Mercedes Deal, Lewis Hamilton Destroys 2 F1 Stars’ Prospects of Major Step Up

Few may agree but the Brit has faced a more intimidating set of teammates throughout his career. However, Verstappen does not care and his reply to Hamilton’s comments will highlight that.

Max Verstappen blasts Lewis Hamilton for his jealous comments toward him

If you thought the sour taste from the 2021 season has washed away, think again! The two arch-rivals are back at each other’s throats at the Italian GP. Many statements were made from the Mercedes camp toward Verstappen and Co. throughout the weekend and all the comments received fitting replies. Verstappen personally addressed Hamilton’s earlier claims about the level of competition in the Red Bull camp.

“Perhaps Lewis is a little jealous of my current success,” Verstappen said. “He may think he gains something with that, with statements like that, but it doesn’t matter to me. I think it’s very hard to deal with a loss at Mercedes after all these years of winning so much.” 

Talk about a harsh reply! The Dutchman is surely cause for envy for many and as he highlighted, that includes the seven-time world champion. It will be interesting to see how far this debate extends.

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