Lewis Hamilton has made a bold claim after Max Verstappen’s historic victory at the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix.
On Sunday, the legendary Zandvoort circuit was largely dominated by the Orange Army as they waited in anticipation to see Verstappen win his 11th race of the 2023 F1 season.
After a rain delay, Verstappen crossed the line nearly four seconds ahead of second-placed Fernando Alonso.
On the back of his win, he has now matched Sebastien Vettel and Alberto Ascari’s record of nine wins in a row.
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Despite Verstappen and Red Bull’s clear dominance, Mercedes star Hamilton has made a bold claim.
Speaking after the race, Hamilton, who started 13th, claimed that he could have finished on the podium and was as quick as Verstappen.
He said: “It didn't start off that well, but I'm pretty happy with the drive that I did to get back into the points and get sixth.
“It could have been higher for sure, if we made the right decision at the end of the day. We should have pitted [straight away] but we didn’t. We paid the price for that, and we did our best to come back.”
Hamilton added: “I feel like today was redemption, in the sense of it was terrible yesterday. I managed to dial the car in a bit better today and overtook a bunch of people.
“To start 13th, I was dead last at one point, to get back up to sixth, I'm happy with that. I think today I had the pace [for the podium]. I was on pace with Max in the race, but we were just out of position.”
Recently, Verstappen starred in one of F1’s global partners, Heineken’s ‘When You Drive, Never Drink’ campaign.
According to Heineken, Verstappen is the best driver not drinking thanks to Heineken 0.0.
Verstappen said: “As an F1 driver, making the right choices both on and off the track is vitally important for success.
“When driving, having that clarity and single-mindedness, particularly when it comes to safety, is crucial. On top of working on an upcoming, exciting new gaming initiative with Heineken called Player 0.0, I’m proud as a Heineken 0.0 ambassador to help advocate responsible drinking to motorsport fans all over the world.”
Topics: Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Formula 1
Marcus Chan