Has the Max Verstappen-Red Bull combo's record-breaking run exposed an insecure side of the Lewis Hamilton-Toto Wolff duo?

The media exchanges between the Max Verstappen-Red Bull and the Lewis Hamilton-Toto Wolff duo were somewhat interesting throughout the 2023 F1 Italian GP race weekend. It all started with Hamilton claiming that an FIA intervention to slow Red Bull down was good for the sport.

It was followed by the Mercedes driver's comments about Verstappen's teammates and finally, it all ended with Wolff terming the Dutchman's records irrelevant. The veracity of these comments is something that we will go through one by one but there is a question that surely pops up in this situation.

Has the Max Verstappen-Red Bull dominant run exposed the somewhat insecure side of the Lewis Hamilton-Toto Wolff duo? Let's take a look if we can answer this question.

Lewis Hamilton's desperate calls for FIA intervention

What was said?

Lewis Hamilton stressed earlier in the weekend that an FIA intervention that slowed down Red Bull would be a good thing for the sport. The driver talked about how even when he was dominant in F1, he always talked about how it would be better if there was more competition at the front.

Hamilton also talked about how the floor regulations were changed from 2020 to 2021 to stop the Mercedes domination and even other systematic changes that were made when he was winning.

How valid was it?

Unfortunately, there's not much validity to his claims. Sure, Lewis Hamilton said a few times during the team's dominant era that he hoped there was more competition but he was not really an advocate of changing technical regulations to help other teams. There was a token system put in place that restricted power unit development and stopped other teams from catching up.

Hamilton was never an advocate of changing the regulations and helping the rivals catch up. He never did such a thing. Even when Red Bull was without a power unit at one stage and Mercedes flatly declined to supply the team one, Hamilton did not advocate giving the team one to help boost competition.

Statements and actions are two different things. None of his actions were in favor of boosting competition in F1 during the era in which the Hamilton-Mercedes duo dominated the sport.

So the Brit can now make all these statements about how close completion is great for the sport, it's safe to say that when he was winning, he did nothing to make that happen.

Lewis Hamilton's comments about Max Verstappen's teammates

What was said?

Long story short, Lewis Hamilton claimed each of his teammates was better than the ones Max Verstappen has had in his career.

"When I qualified half a second, six-tenths ahead of Valtteri, they didn’t say the same thing as they say today when Max qualifies six-tenths ahead of Perez. It’s blown up much more. And in my personal opinion, Valtteri, and actually all of my team-mates, have been stronger than the team-mates that Max has had," Hamilton told Sky Sports.

"Jenson [Button], Fernando [Alonso], George [Russell], Valtteri… Nico [Rosberg] – I’ve had so many. These guys have all been very consistent, and Max has not raced against anyone like that,” Hamilton added.

How valid was it?

As we've already established here, Lewis Hamilton has overall had better teammates in his career but at the same time, not every teammate of his was better than what Max Verstappen has had.

Toto Wolff dismissing Max Verstappen's record

Arguably a bit of a surprise did come at the end of the race weekend in Monza when Toto Wolff downright dismissed Max Verstappen's record. In one of the most dismissive comments about the achievement, the Mercedes boss said:

"Our position [when they were dominant] was different because we had two cars fighting against each other. I don't think he cares too much about records. Neither do we, because I don't think anyone reads Wikipedia."

How valid was it?

Now this is where it gets interesting because if Toto Wolff had maintained this stance throughout the last decade or so then it wouldn't be an issue. This is exactly the point where a little flashback is not a bad thing.

Here are Wolff's comments when Lewis Hamilton got his 100th win in Sochi, Russia in 2021:

"I think we are witnesses of a career that is just amazing. That 100th race victory is just mind-blowing. Today we talk about it – it’s going to be in the news for 24 hours – but only 20 years down the line we are going to realise that we’ve been part of that."

“But we realise that you are being part of a journey that no other sportsman in Formula 1 has done so far and that is beyond the races that we’ve won, the championships – that is from the humanist aspect – to be part of this is special,” Wolff added.

These comments do make Toto Wollf come across as a bit hypocritical in all fairness and in complete contradiction of what he essentially talked about when it came to Max Verstappen's records.

Is all of this a sign of insecurity?

If we go back and look at the comments made by Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff both of them seem knee-jerk. Neither of them was pre-mediated and it's almost an adverse reaction to the record-breaking run for Red Bull and Max Verstappen.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominating better than Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes did?

If you look at the car advantage that Max Verstappen and Red Bull have then overall it is reminiscent of the kind of advantage that Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes had in the turbo hybrid era.

However, if we look at the record that the Dutch driver and the Austrian team have put together it is just astounding to see how well the dominance is just better than their predecessors.

Lewis Hamilton vs Max Verstappen

In 2022, Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton's records for most points in a season by a whopping 41-point margin. He did it in 22 races while Hamilton had 21 races for his.

What made the record in 2022 this impressive was that in retrospect Hamilton had zero DNFs or reliability issues in 2019. Verstappen, on the other hand, lost two P2 finishes due to reliability and a win in Silverstone because of unforced floor damage on his car.

The records don't end there as Max Verstappen clocked 15 wins in a season, the best that Lewis Hamilton has ever done is 11, and finally, the one that seemingly touched the nerve with both the Mercedes driver and his boss was the 10 consecutive wins.

The way Verstappen has decimated these records deserves praise and it has taken dominance to another level. For a driver like Hamilton who was the undisputed king of F1 at one time, it does appear that the way the Red Bull driver has been going through these records has taken a toll.

The only purpose of trying to bring teammates into a debate was Hamilton trying to diminish the winning streak that Verstappen is currently on. Especially since the best that Hamilton has done in his entire career is five, a number that Max reached last season already.

How Max Verstappen has bettered the records and continues to break them with nonchalance is him taking the dominant years of Lewis Hamilton and doing it one step better.

Red Bull vs Mercedes

Even from a team perspective, Red Bull has taken the crown away from Mercedes and just leveled up. The team is on a 15-race win streak right now, the maximum that the German team ever hit was 11.

To add to this, it's the kind of run that might not end soon enough as the team hardly makes any mistakes, adding to the misery of the Austrian who was in a rough mood after the 2023 F1 Italian GP as it is.

Writer's opinion

Do Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton sound insecure?

In my view, they do. The way Lewis Hamilton tried to accuse the media of "blowing things up" when Max Verstappen did something and how he tried to undermine some very impressive drivers was strange. What made it worse was that he did all of it unprovoked when the question had nothing to do with his teammates in any manner.

Toto Wolff's comments have been rightly questioned by everyone including the more than generous British media. Many have called his entire demeanor a bit 'salty' and nobody can argue that his stand was somewhat hypocritical.

Should they be insecure?

The answer to that question lies in history. When Ferrari lost the title to Renault in 2005-06, it did not sound this disgruntled. When Michael Schumacher lost to Fernando Alonso and when he saw other drivers take over during his second stint from 2010-12, he had nothing but praise for them.

More recently, at the start of the turbo era, Sebastian Vettel was the runaway leader in terms of wins and championships. When Lewis Hamilton beat his records and took over, Vettel was all grace and never tried to find reasons to put down the Mercedes driver.

Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton had their time and they dominated the sport for seven years. This is the biggest dominant streak in the sport. In all fairness, they have nothing to be insecure about and they should not.

I think it's safe to say that both Lewis and Toto Wolff will look back at their comments about Max Verstappen, his teammates, and his achievements and will certainly not call those moments their finest hours in F1.