Lewis Hamilton would be happy for Max Verstappen to join Mercedes - so they can race in the same car and he can prove he is the fastest driver in Formula 1.
World champion Hamilton leads the 2019 standings with seven wins from 11 races so far this season. However, Red Bull’s Verstappen has recorded victories in two of the three previous races and is 63 points behind the British driver.
When asked about Verstappen’s title chances Hamilton told Sky Sports that “time will tell”.
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Speaking ahead of this weekend’s F1 Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “I think he’s done a great job and Red Bull have clearly done a great job in quite a few of the races now.
“I think they will be quick here [in Hungary]. They are in general slowly catching us up - though it’s easier to catch up than it is to stay ahead and be the leader. But it’s great to see them progressing.
“We want the competition. We’ll be ready for the fight whatever the case.”
Lewis ready to prove his speed
With Verstappen winning in Austria and Germany there has been debates that the 21-year-old would beat Hamilton to the F1 championship if they were driving the same car.
This could potentially happen at Mercedes, with reports suggesting Verstappen may replace Valtteri Bottas.
Commenting on Verstappen as a potential team-mate 34-year-old Hamilton said: “I’ve honestly got no problem with it. As I’ve said before, I like working with Valtteri.
“I don’t know how that [Verstappen] dynamic would work for the team, but I’m not saying it would, or would not. I see positives and potential negatives, obviously there’s always positives and negatives with different people that you end up working with.
“In some ways it works well for me because I see stories that we’ve got different cars and that’s the only [reason I beat him].
“That gives me an opportunity to show you that that’s not the case!”
