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“In my personal opinion, Valtteri [Bottas] and all of my team-mates have been stronger than the team-mates Max has had. Jenson [Button], Fernando [Alonso], George [Russell], Nico [Rosberg]. I had so many. These guys have all been very strong and consistent. Max is not racing against anyone like that.”<\/p>\n
Pulling no prisoners, Verstappen has since responded: “Maybe he’s a little jealous of my current success. He possibly thinks he’s winning something with a statement like that, but it makes no difference to me.<\/p>\n
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“I think Mercedes have a very hard time dealing with losing, after all these years of winning so much. At some point, you have to be realistic and then you have to be able to appreciate what other teams are doing.<\/p>\n
“We did the same when they were dominant and we also said, ‘We have to work harder because we are not good enough’. You can keep shouting and screaming that what we do is not that special… you just have to deal with yourself.”<\/p>\n
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The pair will have the chance to do battle on track this Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton may have a job catching up to Verstappen, however, having qualified six places behind the 25-year-old in P8.<\/p>\n
The big surprise from Saturday was Verstappen failing to secure pole position. Concerningly for Red Bull, their star driver will be sandwiched between two Ferrari stars at their home race, with Carlos Sainz starting from the front.<\/p>\n