Lewis Hamilton snubbed for 26-year-old as only F1 title rival for Max Verstappen

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Eddie Jordan would snub Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso if he was still an F1 team owner as only Charles Leclerc can take the title fight to Max Verstappen now.

The last three years have seen Verstappen become one of the most decorated drivers in F1’s history. He has won each of the past three drivers’ championships and now sits third all-time for Grand Prix wins on 54. Just Hamilton (103) and Michael Schumacher (91) remain in front.

Verstappen even beat Alberto Ascari’s win per cent record of 75% from 1952 with his 86.3% in 2023. The 26-year-old stood atop the podium 19 times through 22 Grand Prix en route to a record 575-point season. He took last year’s title by 290 points to teammate Sergio Perez.

Max Verstappen is breaking record after record in Formula 1

Last year was also Hamilton’s second-ever winless season in F1 as Mercedes failed to top a single Grand Prix. He also endured the 39-year-old’s first-ever winless season in 2022 after a remarkable run. The Briton had won, at least, one race in each of his first 15 seasons in F1.

But Red Bull returning to the front of the grid and Mercedes going the wrong way with their no-sidepod concept from the start of F1’s latest ground effect era in 2022 has held Hamilton back. He remains in search of a record eighth drivers’ title to go totally clear of Schumacher.

Hamilton was still able to finish third in the drivers’ championship and help pull Mercedes to second in the constructors’ standings last year, nonetheless. The Silver Arrows edged Ferrari by three points with Leclerc only able to take P5 behind Alonso in the drivers’ championship.

Eddie Jordan can only see Charles Leclerc as a title rival for Max Verstappen

Alonso offered a reminder of the two-time F1 champion’s talents after switching Alpine for Aston Martin in 2023. He is without a win since the Spanish GP in 2013 but the 42-year-old sealed eight podium finishes. He also got on the rostrum at six of the first eight Grand Prix.

But if Jordan still owned a Formula 1 team and could not coax Verstappen from Red Bull, he would not target Alonso or Hamilton to contest the title fight. Instead, he would see Leclerc with McLaren driver Lando Norris as the 26-year-old’s teammate as the only viable line-up.

Jordan told F1-Insider: “If I had a top team now and didn’t get Max, there would only be one driver pairing that would be able to take on the fight with Verstappen: Charles Leclerc and, as a teammate, Lando Norris.

“I simply no longer trust Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, well-deserved champions, to be able to keep up with Verstappen because of their advanced age.”

It is naïve to rule out Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso over their ages

Leclerc has so far won five Grand Prix over 125 entries since entering F1 in 2018. He has also failed to convert each of the Monegasque’s last 12 pole positions into race wins. But Leclerc is a champion after taking the 2016 GP3 title and also the 2017 Formula 2 crown as a rookie.

But to suggest that only Leclerc can be a title rival to Verstappen over Hamilton and Alonso’s ages is naïve. The Briton and Spaniard may be 39 and 42 but they remain two of Formula 1’s elite competitors. That was evident in 2023 as they finished as the best non-Red Bull drivers.