Former tyre expert from Bridgestone, Van De Grint, believes that Max Verstappen's chances of challenging Lewis Hamilton this season are very slim and that it will be dependent of whether Ferrari can also join the battle upfront. The Dutchman believes that if Ferrari can get ahead of the Mercedes as well as Verstappen winning races, that is the only way the Red Bull driver can succeed.
"Strategically, two Mercedes fighters and one Red Bull fight," Van De Grint said in the latest episode of Slipstream.
"The chance that he wins all nine races and runs three fast laps is 20%," Van De Grint calculated. "But the chance that Hamilton won't win a few races and finish a few times outside the top ten is minimal," he argued.
Ernest Knoors, former DTM team boss agrees with Van De Grint.
“What Kees says is true: if you see a race between Verstappen and Hamilton, that is a very difficult story to see with this data that Max is going to finish in front. It would be nice if one of the two Ferrari's is constantly mixing in the front. Then you still have the possibility that two Ferrari's finish in front and two Mercedes on P5 and P6."
It is possible that Verstappen could launch an attack on the Mercedes but it looks unlikely. Mercedes would have to have a lot of bad luck and Red Bull would also require Ferrari to improve on their previous performances.
It's going to be interesting to see if he can do it.
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