Lewis Hamilton: Max Verstappen responds to Mercedes star and issues 2018 title warning
MAX VERSTAPPEN says he is hopeful Red Bull can provide him with a car good enough to mount a title challenge to Lewis Hamilton in 2018.
Max Verstappen wants to win the world title
Hamilton sealed his fourth world title in the last race in Mexico, which was won comfortably by Verstappen.
The Dutch driver has had a mixed season with unreliability hurting him earlier in the year but he has bounced back to earn victories in Malaysia and Mexico.
After winning the world championship, Hamilton name-checked Verstappen as one of his main threats to his crown.
And the 20-year-old says he heard what Hamilton said and hopes he can live up to those words.
At the moment he is the world champion, I'm still not in that position and I hope I can be next year
Verstappen told Sky F1: “I heard it. I hope he has to.
“At the moment he is the world champion, I'm still not in that position and I hope I can be next year.
“We need to wait and see how strong we can be as a team.”
Verstappen has signed a new deal with Red Bull keeping him with the energy drinks team until 2020 while Daniel Ricciardo has opted to keep his options open with one year left on his current deal.
Lewis Hamilton is wary of Max Verstappen
And Verstappen insists the situation doesn’t make him the number one driver at Red Bull now.
Verstappen said: "I don't feel like it. I feel like we have equal material, the team is working really hard on both sides.
"I don't want to be a number one driver because you want to beat your team-mate in a normal way with the same material. At the end of the day that is more satisfying."