Lewis Hamilton has predicted that Max Verstappen will go the remainder of the 2023 season unbeaten and reach 19 wins for the campaign, destroying his previous record.
Verstappen’s win on Sunday at the Mexican Grand Prix marked his 16th of the year, eclipsing his 2022 record of 15 victories.
The Dutchman has been unstoppable this season and has been in a complete league of his own, making it a safe bet to assume that he’ll win in Sao Paulo, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.
Should the three-time World Champion reach 19 wins in Abu Dhabi, then the Red Bull driver will have won 86.4% of the races this season, destroying Alberto Ascari’s 1952 record of 75%.
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McLaren appear to be the only side who could defeat Red Bull, with Hamilton believing that Mercedes are simply mirroring their 2022 campaign.
Hamilton finished second last weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but was well behind Verstappen.
The Silver Arrows have made significant progress this season given that they were over 1.5s per lap slower than Red Bull at the Bahrain season-opener, something Hamilton has stressed cannot happen next year.
Mercedes have taken “confidence” from their strong pace at the United States Grand Prix and in Mexico, which they’re hoping will be on show again in Sao Paulo, where George Russell won last season.
A victory would mean an incredible amount to Hamilton, although his money is on the last three races being won by Verstappen.
“It definitely gives us a lot of confidence,” Hamilton told media including RacingNews365.com, when asked about Mercedes’ recent pace.
“I mean, last year, at the same time, we were doing the same thing, but last year, I think we were three-tenths behind Max in qualifying or something like that and I came second, but he walked off with the win.
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“So we’re really just mirroring what we did last year, so we have to make some real big changes for next year.
“Obviously in Bahrain earlier this year, they were 1.5s a lap faster than us, at least, so the key is to make sure that is not the case in Bahrain [for the 2024 season opener].
“Hopefully, these next couple of races will be close, but I’d probably put money on it that [Max] will get to 18, 19 [wins] with that car.”