Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s rivalry has flipped with Mercedes F1 ace having to be aggressive, says Sky F1 expert
LEWIS HAMILTON and Max Verstappen’s rivalry has flipped now the Dutchman is in a dominant car according to Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz.
Verstappen took his first win in Australia last weekend having only managed a best of third from his previous six races in Melbourne.
The Red Bull driver appeared to be cruising to victory until a second red flag following Kevin Magnussen’s crash set up a tense two lap shootout from a grid start.
Verstappen managed to hold off fellow world champions Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as he secured his second win of the season.
Hamilton and his Mercedes team mate George Russell had to be aggressive to get past Verstappen on the opening lap and Kravitz sees similarities to when Hamilton was fending off a young Verstappen.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Kravitz said: “What’s fascinating to me is, we now have a complete flip of the Mercedes-Lewis Hamilton seasons from 2014 to 2021, when Hamilton has been going for the championship, knowing he has the fastest car and needs to play it safe.
“You had the upstart Verstappen challenging him and wanting to get in there. And now you’ve got Hamilton challenging Verstappen, saying, ‘it’s no cares given’, ‘I’m out there to take all the risks’, putting it back on the defending champion.
“Hamilton knows he’s not going to win the championship this year, not unless something really weird happens, so he can go in there and be aggressive with Verstappen, knowing that he is probably going to have to give way.”
Hamilton, who is looking for his first win since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2021, will have been encouraged by the improved performance of the Mercedes compared to the opening two rounds.
The seven time champion will be hoping that the upgrades arriving on the Silver Arrows will bring them closer to the dominant Red Bull and challenge for race wins.
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Whilst Hamilton isn’t challenging for the title in 2023 he does have a battle on his hands with team mate Russell.
Russell is currently seventh in the standings, three places off Hamilton in fourth after his retirement in Australia, but got the better of the seven time world champion last season.
Verstappen leads the standings from team mate Sergio Perez by 15 points with Alonso in third.
Due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, there is now a four week break until the Formula 1 season resumes in Baku.