Flavio Briatore has claimed that there are only two stars in Formula 1 so far. The former Renault boss believes Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen are the greatest drivers compare to the others.
Charles Leclerc is a dream for Ferraari, but Briatore admitted tat the Monaco driver is still young and not much better than Verstappen.
“There’s only two stars in F1, Hamilton and Verstappen. Leclerc is young, big balls, which he’s demonstrating. I believe if I was Ferrari.” Briatore said.
“I had put Leclerc two years ago into the place of (Kimi) Raikkonen, because you know, with Raikkonen you’re going nowhere, you’ll never win anything with him.
“I’d have taken the risk to put LecLerc. He is a really, really, strong guy. But Leclerc is not recognizable now. Verstappen for me is the more incredible driver. He’s fantastic in the way of overtaking.” Briatore added.
Briatore considers Leclerc the second biggest talent of his generation only slightly behind Verstappen. However, he admitted the Ferrari is much stronger than the Red Bull.
When asked if Verstappen better driver than his father Jos Verstappen, Briatore said: “No question. The name is the same, but the driver is completely different. I tell the father, ‘Jesus Christ, I wish had your son in the car and not you!”
F1 planned to start their first race at GP Canada on June 14 but it is understood that race promoter Francois Dumontier believes the race will under the threat of coronavirus outbreak.
“At this point, we all hope the race can go ahead on June 14. At the same time we have to be realistic and look at the situation on a daily basis. If it can’t go on as planned, we will postpone it.” Dumontier said.
“Several factors must be considered both here in Quebec and around the world. The question of borders is obviously decisive, as is the possibility of traveling from one country to another. At any rate, we do not envisage a cancellation, unless the entire season is canceled.” he added.
