Hamilton named as Verstappen's biggest rival: 'The only one'

Anthony Davidson expects only Lewis Hamilton to be able to offer opposition to Max Verstappen. He told Sky Sports. According to the former Formula 1 driver, the other drivers on the grid are not capable of this for now.

Charles Leclerc looked set to compete with Verstappen at the start of the season, but the Monegasque failed to keep up after only a few months. In turn, his teammate Carlos Sainz started the season disappointingly and was also unable to keep up with the Dutch driver.

"The only person I can see that can mount a serious challenge is Hamilton," concluded Davidson, who still rates Hamilton's qualities highly. "Lewis at the moment, he’s definitely still good enough without question and he’s the only one that can take this fight to Max."

According to Davidson, however, Hamilton is likely to diminish in the coming years. "The problem is, as an older athlete, you start to lose a bit of performance. That hasn’t happened yet with Lewis, but at some point it’s inevitable and that’s the advantage Max has."

Although Verstappen has been virtually unbeatable this season, Davidson expects the Dutchman to be succeeded by another great at the end of his career as well. "It’s a generational thing. I’ve seen this many times in the past in Formula 1."