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At the peak of Max Verstappen's dominance, during the 2023 F1 season, Lewis Hamilton claimed that he had stronger teammates than the Dutchman in his F1 career. The Red Bull driver took a cheeky dig in response, wondering if his rival was a little jealous of his dominance.
Verstappen was on the verge of creating history by becoming the first driver ever to win 10 races in a row at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton downplayed this before the race and also claimed that he had tougher opponents in his F1 career than Verstappen.
Prior to the race in Singapore, Verstappen responded to the media, saying that it was disrespectful towards his teammates in the past. The driver also pointed out the irony in Hamilton's claim, saying that all of his previous teammates outqualified Hamilton at the Italian GP.
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Verstappen also took a sly dig at Hamilton, questioning if the Briton was a little jealous.
"In my opinion, it doesn't have to be about other people's teammates. It's about your own performance, how you perform in your race weekends and how you work together with your team. The rest is secondary," said Verstappen.
"Maybe there is a little jealousy. Nice for Netflix? That doesn't really matter to me," he added.
Verstappen started his 10-race winning streak at the 2023 Miami GP, which stretched till the Italian GP. The subsequent Singapore GP was an uncharacteristically poor race for Red Bull in 2023, but Verstappen won the next nine races as well after it, stretching his streak into 2024.
The 2023 Singapore GP, won by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, was the only race in which Red Bull didn't win that year.
"It's Max's period": Lewis Hamilton about Max Verstappen's dominance in 2023
Lewis Hamilton claimed that it was Max Verstappen's "period" of dominance when speaking about the reigning world champion's dominant display in 2023. The 7x world champion explained how Verstappen and Red Bull had done a better job than any other team.
Speaking to The BBC, ahead of the 2023 British GP, Hamilton explained that Verstappen was enjoying a purple patch, just like himself, Michael Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel in the past.
"I had it, and I was really, really, fortunate to have it here with this team [Mercedes]. Michael had it, Seb had it, and now it’s Max’s period," said Hamilton.
"We just did a better job, and that’s where Max is. You can’t take it away from them."
Max Verstappen won 34 out of the 44 races that were held in the 2022 and 2023 F1 seasons. Sergio Perez also won four races in this period, meaning Red Bull only lost out on six race wins in these two seasons.
