Lewis Hamilton admits Max Verstappen is ‘the fastest guy’ in F1 after Canadian Grand Prix battle

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Lewis Hamilton has praised the speed and consistency of Max Verstappen after their duel at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Hamilton and Verstappen lined up alongside one another in fifth and sixth, but that soon became third and fourth as McLaren’s gamble to start on intermediate tyres backfired and forced them into early pit stops.

Verstappen got past Hamilton early on, and then a mistake from the latter seemed to end the battle. However, the Ferrari driver was much faster in the second stint and progressively clawed back the deficit before making a decisive move on lap 62 out of 68.

‘You know how consistent and fast that guy is?’ – Lewis Hamilton on Max Verstappen

Verstappen complained about Hamilton over the radio during the race, suggesting he wasn’t properly adhering to yellow flags. But afterwards, there was nothing but respect between the two former title rivals.

In an interview with ESPN after the race, Hamilton expressed his satisfaction after ‘pushing like a mad man’ to counter Red Bull’s straight-line advantage.

He acknowledged that four-time title winner Verstappen is the ‘fastest’ opponent on the grid right now, reflecting the consensus within the paddock.

Has the relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen changed for good?

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“It’s the best to overtake another world champion,” he said. “And obviously, I had a big deficit to close. It was really, really hard to close that gap. I was pushing him like a mad man to try to get close to him.

“You know how consistent and fast that guy is? He’s the fastest guy here. So it felt great to get to have that battle with him. It was really not easy to overtake.”

Hamilton lost out to Verstappen the last time they did battle during the Miami Sprint race. The Red Bull driver overtook him off track and had to return the place, but was able to make a clean move soon after.

However, Martin Brundle and Damon Hill praised Hamilton for his clinical overtake on Sunday, which came at the end of one of his best weekends for Ferrari.