Rookie sensation wouldn't be scared to be team-mate to Hamilton
Monday 2 November 2015 11:11, UK
Max Verstappen says he wouldn't be fazed to go up against new triple world champion Lewis Hamilton at the same team in the future.
Verstappen's meteoric rise through the motorsport ranks to F1 after just one year in single-seaters has been vindicated by his eye-catching performances during his rookie season for Toro Rosso.
Fourth place at last weekend's wet-dry US GP equalled the 18-year-old's best result yet and paddock rumour suggests that the sport's current big two teams, Mercedes and Ferrari, are keeping increasingly close tabs on his progress.
Any move from Mercedes over the next few years would raise the prospect of a Hamilton-Verstappen partnership at Brackley in future - the Briton signed a new three-year deal in May - but the confident Dutchman says he would happily take on anyone in the same car.
"It doesn't matter, as long as at one point I'm in a championship-winning car," he told Sky Sports News HQ.
"I don't care about my team-mate."
Put to him that a Hamilton-Verstappen partnership would be exciting for the sport, the Dutchman replied: "He's very talented, you can see that, otherwise you don't win the championship three times. You have some different people in F1, Lewis has his own style, and I think it's good for F1. So definitely looking forward to that."
A Mercedes move for F1's hottest young talent, however, would likely be several years away yet given Nico Rosberg's contract at the world champions runs until at least the end of next season and Verstappen is contracted to Red Bull until 2017.
However, the continued uncertainty surrounding the energy drinks company's future in F1 means Verstappen could be on the market sooner than that if they quit the sport.
With his stock continuing to rise, the 18-year-old will get another chance to impress this weekend in the revived Mexican GP. Asked if his performance in Austin last Sunday was his most complete yet, Verstappen told reporters: "I think so. I was very happy with my own performance and this fourth position, of course, doubles it up.
"I didn't make any mistakes, I kept running, did a very good long stint on the tyres to keep them alive. So I was really happy with that result."
More mixed conditions are expected in Mexico City, especially on Friday, and Verstappen admitted: "Of course, we have to do a rain dance! If you look to Austin, it really helped us, so hopefully we can have some rain here again.
"So far, every day [here] it has rained, at three or four o'clock, or maybe a bit later. For Sunday, a bit earlier, so one, one thirty would be better. We'll see."
