Lewis Hamilton: F1 champion makes admission about Red Bull driver Max Verstappen
LEWIS HAMILTON believes Red Bull driver Max Verstappen can pose a threat to him in the future.
The Mercedes man wrapped up the fourth F1 title of his career this season after overcoming Ferrari ace Sebastian Vettel.
And next year he’ll be hoping to go level with Juan Manuel Fangio on five World Drivers’ Championships as he continues to hunt down Michael Schumacher’s record of seven.
Verstappen has been hailed as one of F1’s brightest ever prospects though and he’ll be hoping to challenge Hamilton for glory.
2017 champion Hamilton has now admitted Verstappen possesses the quality to put himself in the title race.
"He can be a title contender," Hamilton told Sky Sports.
"His abilities at the core are fantastic and we've all seen that come to light with the great car he's racing in and the great team he's racing in.
"He's really the brightest young star that we've seen for some time."
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Verstappen is tied down at Red Bull until 2022, with Hamilton looking likely to extend his Mercedes spell beyond 2018.
And that means the duo will get the chance to battle it out in F1 for a few years at least.
Hamilton will be looking to get his title defence off to the best possible start when the 2018 campaign kicks off in Australia next March.