Verstappen then went on to further stress that Hamilton’s comments won’t have any bearing on him ahead of the upcoming Singapore GP. “I don’t lose sleep over it,” he added. “I do my thing here, go home again after the weekend, do my thing there and then I don’t have much to do with Formula 1.”

Hamilton and the rest of the grid have been unable to match Red Bull and Verstappen, as the team have won every single race so far this season while the Dutch star has claimed victory in each of the previous 10 Grand Prix.

Current team-mate Sergio Perez has been criticised despite winning two races so far this season, equalling his record, but his performances especially in qualifying have been underwhelming and even prompted rumours that he could lose his seat – with Hamilton clearly of the opinion that Verstappen is not being challenged by Perez.