Ralf Schumacher believes Lewis Hamilton is ‘light years’ behind the F1 legacy of his brother, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
And he believes Max Verstappen ‘can actually go further’ than Hamilton, saying the Red Bull driver is more talented than his Mercedes rival.
Can Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in a chase race with Michael Schumacher? Hamilton is statistically the most successful driver in F1 history, and in 2020 he will tie Schumacher for the most titles (seven), and next year he will become the first driver to surpass the milestones of 100 race wins and pole positions.
However, the British star has been restricted to just two victories since the end of the controversial 2021 season with Verstappen easing to three successive World Championships.
Despite failing to win a race since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23, Verstappen holds a 52-point lead in the Drivers’ standings with six races remaining of the F1 2024 season. Lewis Hamilton and Max Bertappen: The best enemy.
According to the fourth consecutive title, the 27 -year -old workshop is the second in the history of sports after won his first four world championships in the season when the Red Bull icon, Sebastian Fetter, continuously.
You can see that it is not. The success that Hamilton and Verstappen have achieved over the past decade has put them both alongside Schumacher and Ayrton Senna in the discussion of F1’s greatest drivers of all time.
But Ralf Schumacher, speaking on YouTube channel Formula1.de, insists his younger brother’s place in F1 history remains unchanged, saying Hamilton’s struggles with Mercedes in recent years prove he can’t “walk on water”.
And he believes Verstappen may be closer to challenging the Ferrari icon’s legacy than Hamilton. Schumacher said: “Even Lewis Hamilton will never be able to come close to Michael. From my point of view, he is light years away.” “We thought Lewis Hamilton could walk on water and, no, he didn’t.
“We thought Max Verstappen could walk on water – although in my opinion, in terms of talent, he could go further than Lewis. “So that’s right.”
Schumacher continues to admit that he is indispensable for the success of the driver “at the right place”, and his brother is the most crushed F1 fate until this moment is seen in front of the field. From the year in 2004, I won five titles in Ferrari.
He added as follows: “Michael was one of the drivers who changed the situation. He was also lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.”
Last year, Hamilton appeared to question the legitimacy of Verstappen’s achievements, claiming the Red Bull driver had to battle weaker teammates throughout his F1 career.
Since making his debut with McLaren in 2007, Hamilton has competed against world champions Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, as well as multiple race winners Valtteri Bottas and George Russell.
Verstappen, meanwhile, collaborated with Carlos Sains, Daniel Riccardo, Pierre Gasley and Alex Albon, who have a total of 12 victories in the race between them.
His current teammate, six times winner from the Sergio Perez race, is currently 187 points 187 in front of the United States Grand Prix this weekend in the American district.
Hamilton told Sky Italy: “When I qualified half a second, six tenths ahead of Valtteri, [the media] didn’t say the same thing they say today when Max qualified six tenths ahead of Perez.
“It was exaggerated. “In my personal opinion, Valtteri and all my teammates were stronger than Max’s teammates. Jenson, Fernando, George, Valtteri, Nico, I had so many.
“All these guys were very, very strong, very consistent, and Max didn’t compete with anyone like that.”