If Max Verstappen does leave Red Bull, he’ll be departing one of Formula 1’s all-time great teams, according to Lewis Hamilton.
In fact, so full of admiration he is that he still regrets a sideswipe he made at the six-time constructors’ champions.
Now at Ferrari, Hamilton once let his Mercedes love get the better of himGettyFerrari driver Hamilton has the joint-most titles in F1 history at seven, and during his six at Mercedes, Red Bull were a thorn in his side.
The Austrian-British outfit won four-straight titles from 2010 to 2013 with Sebastian Vettel before Hamilton’s era of Mercedes dominance began.
And so bothered was he by their shock emergence from nowhere to one of the sport’s most successful teams of all time, he delivered a brutal putdown.
Speaking to the media, including talkSPORT.com, at the British Grand Prix, he revealed: “Many, many years ago I was asked something about the company and I was just so die hard Mercedes.
“I remember saying something about Red Bull just being a drinks company and I always regretted it.
“I was just saying where Mercedes were at the time which was really great, I was trying to gee up my team.
“But the truth is Red Bull have been an incredible team, exceptional, they dominated for years.”
Hamilton was praising Red Bull amid strong rumours that reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen could depart for Mercedes next season.
Christian Horner’s squad continue to move backwards since their utter dominance in 2022 and 2023, and many insiders are expecting things to be even worse for the 2026 regulation changes.
Given Mercedes are clearly in pole position to land Verstappen, Hamilton was asked if he would recommend the team where he raced for 12 years to his rival.
If it wasn’t for Red Bull’s magic Hamilton would have many more wins and titles to his nameGetty“Of course,” he answered without hesitation.
“What would I say if anyone was going to ask me about Mercedes… is they’re an amazing team also with the passion, the greatness, a great factory, so of course I would say yes.”
Giving his final comment on the biggest rumour in F1, he finished: “I’m interested to see what happens.”
Should Verstappen make his way to Mercedes, as was claimed by Sky Italia during the week, the German brand’s CEO Toto Wolff has a tough decision to make.
The Austrian already possesses two elite talents that are Mercedes developed in George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, but neither have a contract for next season.
It was long assumed that Russell would make way should Verstappen find an agreement with Mercedes, but he’s since dismissed that theory at Silverstone
Only three teams have won more F1 drivers’ titles than Red Bull“I made it clear that I’m happy to be teammates with anybody,” he said, seemingly suggesting Antonelli is the one at risk.
“There’s a lot of rumours and all of them are being pointed towards me but from my side that isn’t really going to be the case.
“I want to continue with Mercedes into the future and the fact is that Toto has never let me down and has always given his word, but he’s also got to do what’s right for the team, which includes me.
“Everything will work itself out and the likelihood I’m not at the team next year is, I think, exceptionally low.”
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