Max Verstappen snubs Sergio Perez as he predicts championship top three

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Max Verstappen believes that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc will finish ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in the 2024 championship.

Perez completed a Red Bull one-two behind Verstappen in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.

But Verstappen has predicted that the Mexican will finish no higher than fourth in the standings this term.

The 34-year-old finished as the runner-up to the Dutchman last year but was only able to beat third-place Hamilton by 51 points.

Verstappen, by contrast, finished a whopping 290 points clear of anybody else as he claimed 19 victories to Perez’s two.

Max Verstappen thinks Lewis Hamilton will be his nearest challenger in 2024

In an interview with Viaplay Sport Nederland, reigning world champion Verstappen was asked to predict the three drivers who will be attending the FIA prize giving come the end of the season.

He’s backing himself to win a fourth consecutive championship, and thinks that Hamilton and Leclerc, who have won 110 races between them, will split the Red Bulls.

He said: “Top three in the championship? Myself, then Lewis [Hamilton] and then Charles [Leclerc].”

Hamilton and Leclerc endured tough starts to the season

Hamilton has lost some ground to George Russell in the inter-team battle with Mercedes, having only managed to salvage a seventh-place finish after qualifying ninth.

Russell, who could be the lead driver at Brackley when Hamilton joins Ferrari next year, started third and came home fifth.

Sky Sports Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher says Toto Wolff’s outfit are lacking in pace after the first round.

Meanwhile, Leclerc dropped down to fourth after lining up on the front row as he wrestled with brake issues in Sakhir.

Teammate Carlos Sainz, set to lose his drive to Hamilton for 2025, won driver of the day after battling his way to the final podium spot.