21 September 2023 , 20:45
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Johnny Herbert has ruled out the idea of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ever becoming team-mates - insisting the latter is still "unbelievably good".
Hamilton, 38, recently signed a new two-year deal with Mercedes to stay with the Formula One team until the end of the 2025 campaign. Verstappen, 25, will remain at Red Bull for at least another five years after agreeing a long-term contract in 2022.
As such, Hamilton would need to take the plunge and join Red Bull for him and Verstappen to become teammates. Red Bull chief Christian Horner has previously flirted with the idea of signing Hamilton, insisting talks have taken place in the past.
Yet Herbert, who was Michael Schumacher's team-mate at Benetton when the German won the world title in 1995, believes it's difficult for two of the very best drivers to be colleagues. He believes championship-winning teams need an obvious No.1 driver.
"I know from experience that in F1 there is always a cross-over period when the torch is handed on to the next and Max is the next," Herbert told Grosvenor Casino. "Lewis is still unbelievably good and is still more than capable of still being able to beat Max.
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"But you have got to be in the right position, that team has got to be your team. And that’s the situation with Max at Red Bull with Sergio (Perez). It was the same with Michael and me, or Sebastian (Vettel) and Mark Webber or Mika (Hakkinen) and (David) Coulthard.
Verstappen has won 12 races this year and is almost certain to win a third consecutive world title, while his team-mate Perez has just two wins to his name. Seven-time world champion Hamilton would be expected to put up more of a fight if he was in Perez's seat.
Hamilton knows exactly what it's like to battle his team-mate for the Drivers' Championship, as Mercedes colleague Nico Rosberg beat him to the title in 2016. The British favourite also competed for the 2007 title with McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen pipping both of them in the Ferrari.
Hebert added: "There is always one driver who is slightly favoured. And when they are favoured you get the best out of them. History has shown us that. It’s very rare you get two of the best in the same team. (Alain) Prost and (Ayrton) Senna, for instance, it was hard to manage but they were in a situation when they were both dominant.
Max Verstappen's Red Bull is quicker than Hamilton's Mercedes (Getty Images)Do you think Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen could ever be team-mates? Let us know in the comments below!
"I remember Gerhard Berger saying he would never have gone up against Michael as I did. Because he knew how much (team chief) Flavio (Briatore) was working for Michael."
Horner admitted Red Bull have held talks with Hamilton over a move, but no such discussions have been held recently. Although Herbert thinks Hamilton could push Verstappen to become an even better driver if he joins Red Bull, he can't see it happening.
Herbert continued: "I could imagine it being part of a random conversation with Christian floating something like, 'What if Lewis was here? Would you like it?' to Max. It would not be a situation where Christian would have been more specific and said that Red Bull were thinking of approaching Lewis.
"And I think the answer from Max would have been. 'Bring it on'. It would have spurred him on to another level. He is so at ease with himself and believes in himself so much and he has the added extra that the team is all about him."