Fernando Alonso brutally snubbed Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, when asked if Max Verstappen is among the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1.
Sixth place in Saturday’s sprint race is all the Dutchman needs to become a three-time World Champion, putting him level with the likes of Ayrton Senna and Niki Lauda.
It would also see him move clear of Alonso, who won the Drivers’ Championship twice in 2005 and 2006.
Verstappen has enjoyed a remarkable campaign which has seen him break the record for most consecutive wins, whilst he’s only three wins away from eclipsing his own record for most victories in a single season.
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Nobody has been able to match the 26-year-old, who’ll likely want to claim the championship this weekend in style, by winning the sprint race and the main race on Sunday.
Unsurprisingly, several drivers have been asked this weekend whether Verstappen is one of the all-time greats, with Alonso opting to put him amongst seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher.
Alonso completely snubbed Hamilton, who is, of course, also a seven-time World Champion.
“I’ve only been wheel-to-wheel with Michael, but with Michael maybe, yes,” Alonso told reporters.
“And for the next few years he will keep adding championships so we will compare him with Michael even closer in the future.”
Hamilton was also asked to rank Verstappen amongst the all-time greats; however, he refused to do so.
The Mercedes driver stressed that he doesn’t agree with ranking drivers, although he praised the Red Bull driver for having a “phenomenal” season.
“I wouldn’t rank him,” Hamilton said.
“I think ranking people is an opinion-based thing. But I do think he’s earned his position and he’s done an amazing job with the package that he has.
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“He and the team have been phenomenal this year. Faultless. And I think they’ve raised the bar.
“As a team, we have to look at that and say ‘Okay, these are the areas that we need to develop to be able to match that and compete’.
“I do hope at some stage we can fight them and actually have them in a defending position, but they should definitely enjoy the moment because they’ve worked for it.”