F1 ‘Maybe God Is With Him, But He Is Not God,' Verstappen Confident Of Beating Hamilton

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has said that Lewis Hamilton is “not god” and he can certainly defeat him provided he is given a good car.

Hamilton clinched his fifth straight drivers’ title in 2019, overall sixth trophy as he is one title away from equalling Michael Schumacher’s record seven world championships. Verstappen, on the other hand, finished third with 278 points and three Grand Prix wins. His Red Bull had to settle for the third spot on the teams’ standings below winners Mercedes and Ferrari.

Ahead of the 2020 season, Verstappen has insisted that he can “challenge the Mercedes.”

“Lewis is very good. He is definitely one of the best out there but he is not God. Maybe God is with him, but he is not God,” the 22-year-old said in a recent interview.

When asked if he could beat Hamilton, Verstappen replied, "Yes. It is very car-dependent, of course."

The Dutchman went on to add that if he and Red Bull managed to put pressure on Mercedes, the latter could get vulnerable.

“When you can put the pressure on, of course, it is a lot harder for the guy in the lead. If you never really have pressure, you can drive at 97-98% and you never make mistakes, or maybe one weekend out of 21-22."

"Even if we start within 0.2secs, you can really mount the pressure and I would like to start straight away there because then it is really on. I know that when everything is put together, as a team, under pressure situations like in Brazil for example - but also other difficult situations like in Germany [where Verstappen won in the wet and Hamilton and Mercedes made a series of errors] - you can see that the team is really excelling compared to the others,” the young racer added.

The season-opener Grand Prix in Melbourne is scheduled to take place on March 15. Last year, Valtteri Bottas secured victory at the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes teammate Hamilton and Red Bull’s Verstappen.