Max Verstappen has ruled his Australian team-mate out of the fight for the 2018 World Championship. He believes only Hamilton or Vettel can win this season because the gap is already too big.
Ricciardo is 35 points behind Vettel and a further 14 behind Championship leader Hamilton. Verstappen claims this is too much of a mountain to climb as he expects points to fall into the hands of the top two.
"They more or less keep winning the races, so you are losing points to them," Verstappen told Race fans.
The Dutchman himself lies in 6th after his shaky start to the 2018 season. He expects himself to catch up a little bit with the big guys, but not enough to pose a threat.
"I am definitely catching up to the other guys. I was a bit far down, but I think at the moment it doesn't look too bad. The guys in third [Ricciardo], fourth [Bottas] they look a bit closer - but in general, I don't think they are a real part of the championship fight. It's between Lewis and Sebastian."
Both the Brit and the German have won four titles in their respective Formula One careers. According to Verstappen, it will be the battle to become a 5-time World Champion from here on in. Whether he's right remains to be seen, there's still a large chunk of the season to go!
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