admin
The summit of the F1 driver standings has been dominated by Hamilton for the past six years with the Briton winning four world titles during his time with Mercedes to add to his one with McLaren.
Hamilton’s closest challenger has often been his Mercedes team-mate, but Sebastian Vettel has also been close in recent years.
This season however, Hamilton has been leaps ahead of his rivals and holds a 62-point lead over Valtteri Bottas in second with Verstappen a further seven back.
Red Bull closed the gap in the final four races before the summer break, with Verstappen and Hamilton sharing two wins each.
But such is Hamilton’s lead at the top of the standings, it will take a mighty comeback for the 34-year-old not to win his sixth world title.
Verstappen is seen as the best talent of the next generation of Formula One and every year looks closer and closer to challenging for a world championship.
Currently, Hamilton and Mercedes stand in his way of a maiden championship and the Silver Arrows are showing no signs of weakness.
However, Verstappen doesn’t see Hamilton as a superhuman threat, insisting there are many other drivers on the grid capable of doing what he’s doing in the Mercedes car.
“I’m not purely focused on Lewis,” he told Motorsport Magazine.
“There are other great drivers in the paddock who can achieve similar things.
“Looking at the current grid, I think there are three or four drivers with the same capabilities.
“It’s car-dependent.
“I don’t think he’s had the pressure of a team-mate over the years.
“He should really have won it in 2016 as well if it wasn’t for engine failure.
“But after the summer break there were a few poor starts and stuff where he lost first place.
“But he never really had big pressure from his team-mates.” — Express Sport
Online Reporter