Lewis Hamilton is faster driver than Max Verstappen and is ‘annoyingly talented’, says F1 rival

LEWIS HAMILTON is still the fastest driver in Formula One according to one rival on the grid.

The seven-time World Champion is currently in the longest winless streak of his career, but some still think he is the fastest man in Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton (R) has had a rocky start to the 2023 season compared to Max Verstappen (L), who currently leads the Drivers ChampionshipRex

AlamyThe F1 legend ended up behind his team-mate George Russell (R) in last season’s Drivers Championship[/caption]

Hamilton tried to experiment with set-ups to improve the troublesome W13 during the first half of last season, and was consistently outperformed by his team-mate George Russell.

He also missed out on the team’s only win of the year, coming second to Russell at Interlagos.

But former team-mate Valtteri Bottas has said he thinks Hamilton is still faster than every other driver on the grid.

The now-Alfa Romeo driver thinks that Hamilton is faster than Max Verstappen, who is currently leading the Drivers championship.

Speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast, Bottas said “I think he’s still the quickest driver on the grid.”

Even when asked whether Hamilton is faster than the likes of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, Bottas stuck to his guns, replying “Yeah. To me, he’s the fastest.”

The Finnish driver will know better than anyone how Hamilton operates, having shared a garage at Mercedes with him for five seasons.

That makes Bottas the Britain’s longest-associated team-mate in his 17-year-long career.

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When asked what separates Hamilton from the rest of the grid in terms of how he goes about his work, Bottas revealed one of his secrets.

He said: “Well, first of all, he’s annoyingly talented. But on top of that, he works way harder than people actually think outside the race weekends.

“And in the race weekends, he’s quite often the last person to leave the paddock.

“It’s just that combination and he’s got a big drive inside him to always do well.

“His average baseline performance is so good and then he’s really consistent as well, so it makes him hard to beat.

GettyHamilton (L) and Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (R) were team-mates for five seasons[/caption]

Bottas said Hamilton works harder than people think he doesGetty

“When I could beat him, that was obviously on a good day, but on average, I never quite managed to.”

Hamilton was happy with his result in last weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, battling his way up from 13th to finish sixth.

He stuck around in Miami after the race, and was spotted for a second time with pop star Shakira.

Footage of the pair in a restaurant had emerged on social media just a few days earlier, sparking rumours about their love lives.

And now the two have been spotted enjoying a sunny boat trip together with friends.

Shakira was picked up from her £16million Miami Beach mansion, with Hamilton helping the singer into the open top cruiser.