Ted Kravitz has described Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that he could beat Max Verstappen should the pair become team-mates as “interesting”, but also labelled the debate as “pointless” given how unlikely the chances of the seven-time world champion ending up at Red Bull are.
The saga was dragged up in the week ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Christian Horner made comments in an interview with the Daily Mail suggesting that the Mercedes star’s camp had contacted him regarding a drive with Red Bull for the 2024 season.
Hamilton batted off these claims as nonsense stating that, as far as his knowledge went, no member of his entourage had ever contacted the Red Bull boss. The 38-year-old also noted that he hadn’t reached out to Horner on a personal basis in years.
He did, however, suggest that he was happy to race against Verstappen in equal machinery. “I’d be more than happy to race against Max in the same car,” Hamilton explained. “It would be wonderful, [but] I don’t think he wants me to be his team-mate”.
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These comments were of particular interest to Kravitz, who found himself impressed by Hamilton’s unfaltering self-belief following a difficult two seasons that have both seen him fail to win a Grand Prix.
Discussing the Mercedes driver’s comments on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Kravitz explained: “What I did find interesting about it, and maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at this, is that Hamilton believes that he can beat Max Verstappen in a Red Bull, which, I guess he has to back himself, he absolutely has to back himself.
“Is Hamilton the only person, maybe apart from Fernando Alonso and possibly Charles Leclerc, who feels and would be well-positioned to beat Max Verstappen in identical cars? Open question, one for you to discuss with your friends over the winter over Christmas dinner.”
However, the Sky Sports F1 pundit wasn’t even entertaining the possibility of a shock move from Hamilton’s side to join the Red Bull set-up. Horner has made his feelings clear on having two ‘No.1 drivers’ in his team, stating that his preferences lay with a clear power dynamic structure between his two representatives.
“And so, it’s never going to happen, is it? Because Christian Horner and Helmut Marko [Red Bull advisor] have said, ‘Look, we’re not going to have two number ones in a team. It doesn’t work.’ But we can dream, can’t we? We can dream,” Kravitz added.
“So that story is largely pointless, in that it’s never going to happen, but instructive and interesting, I think, in that Hamilton, even in the autumn of his career, absolutely backs himself to beat Max Verstappen in equal cars.”
