Hamilton snubbed for Verstappen as F1 champion points out 'scary' difference

30 June 2023 , 07:00

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Red Bull and Mercedes' car performance differences make it hard to compare Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton (Image: Getty Images)

Damon Hill snubbed fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton to name his rival Max Verstappen as the best pound-for-pound driver on the Formula 1 grid.

Mercedes might be off the pace right now, but Hamilton's talent remains obvious. He has seven world titles to his name and also holds F1 records for races won, podiums and a swathe of other categories.

Verstappen still has a long way to go before he can match Hamilton in those ways. But, at the age of 25 and with two titles and 41 race victories to his name already, time is on his side in his quest to do so.

It's hard to compare the two of them in terms of their current abilities. Red Bull star Verstappen has been imperious and is leading the championship by miles, but also has the fastest car on the grid by some distance.

In comparison, Hamilton has also barely put a foot wrong so far this season. But Mercedes started the season with a car which was a long way off the pace and have only recently began to make notable improvements.

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Despite the difficulty in creating a true comparison, Sky Sports pundit Hill thinks there is one thing that separates Verstappen from Hamilton and the rest of the field. And the 1996 world champion explained his theory to F1's Beyond the Grid podcast.

He said: "Right now for pace, I would say Verstappen [is best], for sheer one-lappery. He has got that [Ayrton] Senna-esque, scary, on-the-edge speed. I know that Lewis has that too but Lewis is that tiny bit more [Alain] Prost-like, a little bit more neat and tidy.

Damon Hill rates Verstappen above Hamilton for one reason (Getty Images)

"It is just that willingness that Max has to go into the danger zone, that's the scary bit." Despite that statement, though, Hill went on to clarify his belief that Hamilton's experience means he is more aware of where the limits are, suggesting that Verstappen remains the more likely of the two to push too hard and make a mistake.

He added: "It is not circumspection or caution, it is just learning there is that risk-reward factor. I think Lewis is able to do it, it is there. It is not a big difference, it is very close.

"If you put them together in 10 races, maybe Lewis would come out ahead and maybe Max would clout the wall or something in two or three of those events because he would want to beat Lewis so much, he would overdo it."

Daniel Moxon