Lewis Hamilton's old boss says Max Verstappen 'would beat him in a s***box'

26 January 2024 , 07:00

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Lewis Hamilton faces a huge task dethroning Max Verstappen (Image: Getty Images)

A former Mercedes chief thinks Max Verstappen would still beat any of his Formula 1 rivals regardless of his machinery.

The Dutchman has dominated the sport for the last two years. And there is no doubt that he is in the form of his life - imperiously able to get the most out of his Red Bull machine.

But it remains true that the car he is driving has played a huge part in his success. The RB19 from last year, in particular, was in a league of its own on the grid and so there was no one other than his team-mate in a position to challenge Verstappen.

It would be much easier to rank drivers compared to one another if they raced in equal machinery. That is not the reality - though Nick Fry, the former Mercedes chief executive whose time at the team briefly overlapped with Lewis Hamilton, is certain that Verstappen is a class above all the rivals.

"Johnny Herbert's idea of having a one-off race where everybody drives the same car would be a good one if it was practical!" he told OLBG. "Those kinds of ideas have been toyed with in the past, but the issues lie in the sponsorships, which are so closely tied to drivers and cars. That's where it gets difficult.

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"Unfortunately, I would have to say that Verstappen is showing that he is the best driver at the moment, and I don't think it would matter much. It could even play into his hands because he's shown he's good enough to be very adaptable and would probably drive any of the cars better than his competitors.

"I heard someone say once, 'If you can drive, you can drive anything'. I don't think it would matter if you put Max in a s***box or a Red Bull car, he'd probably still beat the rest of them. He's very adaptable. I don't think it would change much, sadly.

"If you started Max at the back of the grid, he'd still do better than most, but perhaps he wouldn't win. A lot of it is due to the car. Red Bull has the best driver and the best car."

Nevertheless, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner thinks Hamilton may soon have the chance to prove that he still has what it takes to get the better of the Dutchman. He picked out the seven-time world champion's team as the ones most likely to return to title contention.

He said: "Mercedes has great strength in depth. Obviously, they've had a difficult period, but they have great drivers and they will get it together, one would assume, at some point."

Daniel Moxon