Ex-Benetton team manager Joan Villadelprat believes that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are no longer at the same level, with him believing that it’s the Dutchman who comes out on top.
Verstappen has been mesmeric over the last couple of seasons, as he’s simply gone from strength to strength since beating Hamilton to the 2021 Drivers’ Championship.
Claiming the 2021 crown clearly settled the 26-year-old, who has been touchable ever since.
He’s won 31 races since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced alone, whereas Hamilton hasn’t secured victory once.
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The seven-time World Champion’s last win remains as the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with it looking increasingly unlikely that he’ll have to wait until 2024.
Verstappen is breaking records with ease and this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix could see him eclipse another.
Victory on Sunday will be Verstappen’s 16th of the year, which would see him surpass his 2022 record of 15 wins in a campaign.
The three-time World Champion has already surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 record for nine wins a row, as he went on a 10-race winning streak which ended at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Whilst there is no doubting that Verstappen is a remarkable driver, some question if his dominance is down to his car.
Villadelprat isn’t sure whether this is the case, as Sergio Perez has consistently been slower than the Dutchman and is described as a “very quick driver”.
As a result, the ex-Benetton team manager ponders whether it’s simply Verstappen who’s just using his ability to get more out of the RB19, whilst he admits Hamilton is “making mistakes”.
“No,” Villadelprat told PlanetF1.com, when asked if Verstappen and Hamilton are at the same level.
“Lewis is making mistakes.
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“The key thing is we don’t know how good is the Red Bull. Because you can compare the Mercedes car as [George] Russell is good and he’s there with Hamilton. You can’t do that with Red Bull.
“Red Bull is Max and Checo [Perez] is a second behind and he is not a bad driver, he’s a very quick driver!
“Maybe the way that Red Bull has developed the car, maybe the way that Max is asking things, maybe what you do to the car to make Max quicker is completely against what Checo wants.”