Christijan Albers names the one F1 driver who can challenge Max Verstappen in 2024

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Former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers has admitted that he thinks Lewis Hamilton is the only driver who can stop Max Verstappen from winning the championship in 2024.

Mercedes haven’t produced a decent car in the past two years and if Lewis Hamilton stands any chance of catching the Dutchman, they’ll need to pull out all the stops this winter.

Writing in his column for De Telegraaf, Albers admitted that he hopes Mercedes can do the business ahead of the 2024 season to make the title race more interesting.

Hamilton may find it difficult to believe that he’ll be anywhere near Max Verstappen next year.

It only took one qualifying session in 2023 for the team to realise quite how far behind Red Bull they were.

They had got their development path completely wrong and found themselves playing catch-up all year.

Unlike in 2022 when George Russell secured an unlikely maiden victory in Sao Paulo, the team didn’t stand on the top step once last year.

Albers has admitted that Hamilton is likely to be the only driver fast enough to challenge Verstappen if given the right car this year.

It’s hard to imagine a team that won 21 out of 22 races in 2023 is going to be caught by anyone this year.

But if there’s one driver who could come close right now, it’s Lewis Hamilton.

Albers backs Hamilton to challenge Verstappen if given the right car in 2024

Speaking about next season, Albers said: “For the neutral observer, I hope that Mercedes will come with a better car in 2024.

“Because if you look purely at the qualities of the current drivers, I think Lewis Hamilton is the only one who can come close to Verstappen.

“I am mainly talking about the quality of being able to perform consistently and be very stable in lap times during a race.

“Just like Verstappen, Hamilton is someone who can manage his tires wonderfully. Assessing certain situations, feeling the rubber; in that respect they are alone.”

Hamilton’s best race of 2023 was arguably in Austin even though he was eventually disqualified.

He was catching the Dutchman on track, although it’s unknown whether he would have been quite as quick if his car had passed its inspection.

Albers is echoing the thoughts of many F1 fans when he says that he hopes Hamilton can challenge Verstappen next year.

It doesn’t even have to be the Brit, with Sergio Perez arguably better placed to rival his teammate given he’s in the same car.

The 2023 season was very exciting as long as you ignored who was winning the race.

In 2024, the excitement has to be at the very front of the grid and not just for second place.