"Hamilton, a great driver, but he was still beaten by one of his teammates": F1 champion on contrast between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

F1 champion Jody Scheckter has drawn a direct contrast between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in terms of how dominant the Dutch driver is against his teammates. Max is now a three-time world champion and has dominated the sport in the last two seasons. What has been even more impressive has been the one-sided dominance of the Dutch driver against his teammate.

While Max Verstappen won 15 races in 2022, his teammate Sergio Perez could only win two. In 2023, Verstappen won 19 races while his teammate once again was no match, with only two wins.

Compare this to Lewis Hamilton, who has the most successful career in F1 history. Hamilton, however, has also lost out to his teammates Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg over a season. Comparing Max Verstappen with Lewis Hamilton, Jody Scheckter pointed at the Red Bull driver's dominance against his teammate as something that already makes him a modern-day great. Scheckter said:

“I believe he is really very good, one of the best of all time. If you think about Hamilton, a great driver, [but] he was still beaten by one of his team-mates. It’s impressive to see that none of Max’s team-mates seem to come close. Red Bull made a fantastic car, but it is Verstappen who manages to get everything out of it, especially when you look at Perez’s performance with the same car."

He added:

“It is Verstappen in every situation – including the very complicated ones – who manages to [come out on top]. He has a vision of the race where he sees everything, including what is happening behind him with the strategies.”

Scheckter claims Lewis Hamilton's adversary Max Verstappen is better than all the drivers of his era

The former Ferrari driver had words of appreciation for Max Verstappen as he claimed that the Red Bull driver was better than all of the drivers of his era. He said:

“Max is better than all of the drivers who drove in my time. The difference that is sometimes pointed out is that people say that in those days they were ‘real men’ risking their lives. Back then, it was the bolides that often broke down. Not the Ferrari but the Tyrrell, for example. That’s why I understood afterwards that I was lucky."

Jody Schecketer was the last driver to win a title with the Italian marque until Michael Schumacher did it in 2000. The driver was a legend of his era and appreciation from him for Max Verstappen definitely holds some weight.