Verstappen: If only my teammate was as slow as Bottas!

Verstappen: If only my teammate was as slow as Bottas!

Joas van Wingerden

Friday 28 December 2018 16:29

Max Verstappen aimed a thinly veiled dig at Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, saying he would likely be as quick as the five-time world champion if he were partnered with a teammate "who is not so fast" like the Finn at Red Bull.

Verstappen finished 2018 strongly to take fourth place in the drivers' standings despite a difficult start to the campaign which saw him make errors across each of the first six races.

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He was still over 150 points adrift of champion Hamilton, who won 11 races while Bottas went through the season without a grand prix win.

While Verstappen had to battle Ricciardo – to costly consequences at time, as in Baku – the Dutchman believes Hamilton's dominance over his teammate helped him perform to a higher standard.

"Most drivers would become world champions in that car," Verstappen told AD. "Especially if you have a teammate next to you who is not so fast.

"If your teammate always drives so far behind, it is very easy to collect points.

"Of course I had Daniel Ricciardo much closer to me. Then you really have to fight for your points.

"There at Mercedes it was a completely different story. Hamilton, of course, fought against Ferrari, always had to stay sharp. But sometimes I sometimes think: the lesser your teammate is, the more relaxed you can drive yourself.

"And then you also know that the team is fully geared towards you. That only makes you faster."

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