Former McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa has commended Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, suggesting that they possess the potential to contend with Max Verstappen at the highest level.
However, he maintains that the future remains uncertain for Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, and only time will reveal his true capabilities.
De la Rosa believes that defeating the Dutchman would likely necessitate the skills of another multiple world champion.
Verstappen’s flawless dominance and extraordinary performance is reminiscent of world champions like Alonso and Hamilton.
“If you put Lewis or Fernando Alonso in that car, it wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be easy to say that Max would beat them,” said De la Rosa on F1 Nation podcast.
“It would be very, very challenging for Max and for Fernando and for Lewis because I consider them to be the best three drivers in the grid, It would be down to the details.
“I think that they are all outstanding drivers don’t get me wrong. But I’m just looking at the most consistent drivers in an era. And those have to be Max, Lewis, Fernando.
“It doesn’t matter what compound, what cars they’re driving, what teammates they have, what circuits they’re driving, they’re always there, they’re always delivering something special.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re fighting for victories or, like in Fernando’s case fighting for getting into the Q3 or getting the last point at Alpine, they are always outstanding.
“One important thing is that if you look at the car, it seems to be very sensitive to different tyre compounds. In Miami Carlos Sainz was flying in the first stint with the race, was all over Fernando, and then they went to a different compound, and he was gone.
“And then remember Charles with the tyres in Barcelona. He went with the hard compound, and he was nowhere on the first stint with the hard and then on the last, he put the same compound and he was flying, and he couldn’t really understand why.
“So it’s not an easy car. It’s a fast car, but it has to have some issues.”
Leclerc, outqualifying Sainz eight times and finishing ahead six times this season, demonstrates potential against World champions.
Despite his skill, limited Ferrari wins, often due to car reliability, raise questions. De la Rosa praised Leclerc but highlighted that his top 3 prospects remain uncertain, necessitating time for evaluation.
“Charles [Leclerc] , he’s fantastic for sure. But only time will tell if he gets into this top three. And that’s something we will all know in the next few years,” the Barcelona-born driver added.
“One important thing is that if you look at the car, it seems to be very sensitive to different tyre compounds. In Miami Carlos Sainz was flying in the first stint with the race, was all over Fernando, and then they went to a different compound, and he was gone.
“And then remember Charles with the tyres in Barcelona. He went with the hard compound, and he was nowhere on the first stint with the hard and then on the last, he put the same compound and he was flying, and he couldn’t really understand why.
“So it’s not an easy car. It’s a fast car, but it has to have some issues.”
