25 July 2023 , 12:34
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Lewis Hamilton has been warned that Max Verstappen will surpass him to become recognised as the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time.
Verstappen is on course to winning his third successive drivers' world championship after storming to victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Only Sergio Perez has beaten Verstappen this season, with the Dutchman picking up nine wins from the first 11 races.
Hamilton is the last man other than Verstappen to win the championship, with his last one being his seventh. That is a joint-record he holds with Michael Schumacher, though the Mercedes star holds multiple other records.
They include the most wins, the most pole positions and the most podium finishes. But with Verstappen and his Red Bull team now conquering all before them, Hamilton's long list of records could in danger.
Former F1 star Johnny Herbert certainly thinks so, insisting that Verstappen will surpass both Hamilton and Schumacher's achievements within the sport before long.
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“Max Verstappen is a once in a generational talent. There is always one individual who comes along who is better than the last – notwithstanding the technological advances," he told Casino Bonus Sites.
"Max will be better than Lewis, Lewis was better than Michael Schumacher, and Schumacher was better than Senna. It just evolves. Max has grown up so much as a driver. He just doesn’t fly away into the distance. He will judge it and do just what he needs to do.
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Verstappen remains on course to win his third successive drivers' championship (Zsolt Czegledi/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)"That is the change from the Max of old. Because of that I do not see anyone yet getting themselves on to the same level as Red Bull. A bad day for Max was second. A bad day for him now is first!”
Verstappen's win in Hungary on Sunday was Red Bull's 12th win in succession. That broke McLaren's record for successive wins, set in the 1980s, with Verstappen delighted to make history.
Having been stunningly outqualified by Hamilton, Verstappen sneaked up the inside into turn one to take the lead. And from there, it was a comfortable day for the Dutchman, who hailed his team.
“Twelve wins in a row is just incredible. What we’ve been doing for the last two years has been unbelievable. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going for a long time," the Red Bull star said.
“Also, just to work with the whole team is very enjoyable. It’s always good to look into yesterday, for example, to keep pushing, always wanting to do better, but days like this are just perfect.
"We had a really good start, so I’m very happy with that. We’ve been working on that quite a bit, to really get the good bite. From there onwards I could do my race and today the car was really, really very quick."