Max Verstappen dismisses Lewis Hamilton potentially joining Red Bull - “There’s no point to make up stories”

Max Verstappen dismissed the idea of having Lewis Hamilton potentially become his teammate in Red Bull as he is sure that it will not happen.

Lewis Hamilton was rumored to be switching teams earlier this year despite his commitment to stay at Mercedes. For a very long time, there was no confirmation of his extension in the team which led to the rumors. He eventually signed an extension till the end of 2025. However, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned that one of the Briton's representatives had contacted the team regarding Hamilton's interest.

Even though the team stands by this statement, Mercedes was rather relaxed regarding any of this being true. Max Verstappen was asked by David Croft during the press conference in Abu Dhabi (where Sportskeeda was present) if he would like to have Lewis Hamilton as his teammate. The Dutchman, however, completely disregarded the idea simply because "it's not happening."

"What would it add to know? Because I didn’t know, it’s not happening," he said.

"You know there’s no point to make up stories if it’s not happening."

Red Bull's dominance against Mercedes' struggle in the new era of F1 is one of the reasons why Hamilton's move was speculated. At the same time, Ferrari, too, was one of the teams he was linked with.

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Max Verstappen reveals weakness in the RB19

Heading into the final race of the season, Red Bull have had the upper hand throughout in 2023. There has been only one race where a non-RBR car won (Carlos Sainz, Singapore) so far this season. Max Verstappen won his third consecutive driver's world championship and the team won the constructor's championship as well earlier this season.

The RB19 has dominated throughout this season and it seems almost impossible to defeat. However, Max Verstappen revealed in the press conference that the street circuits are the Achilles' heel for the car, saying:

"Look at our race weekend in Singapore. So in general, on street circuits, I think we are struggling a bit more, like in Vegas also."

Further, Verstappen described that the car faces issues in kerbs, bumps, and lower speeds - basic characteristics of a street circuit.

"Lower speeds is definitely not our strongest point in the car – bumps, kerbs as well – so that’s definitely a big area where we can get improved."

These issues did not stop Max Verstappen from dominating this season, even in street circuits like Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and Monaco.