Lewis Hamilton would race against Max Verstappen like last year the latter did against him claims former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa.
The 2022 season start has not been easy on Lewis Hamilton. The champions of last year Mercedes are now failing to even contest their rivals for a win.
But nobody is ruling out Mercedes making a comeback. Not at least when there are 21 races more to go. Pedro da la Rosa, the former F1 driver, feels the same.
According to him, Hamilton would bounce back this season and would be winning races. However, he also thinks that the Briton would be acting like 2021 Max Verstappen against the Dutchman while competing.
”He’s racing like a true champion now. He has to defend the crown and think about points,” said de la Rosa in the F1 Nation podcast. “At one point Lewis and Mercedes will come back for sure, how will Max race against this. It will be different.”
“Then Lewis will be last year’s Max. He will be super aggressive towards Max, where Verstappen will think more about the championship. It will be a different Max. I don’t think that Max only drives differently against Leclerc because they have been karting with each other.”
Also read: Max Verstappen needs this Michael Schumacher quality to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the GOAT title
Max Verstappen is not aggressive against Charles Leclerc not because they are childhood competitors
In the two battles between Charles Leclerc and Verstappen, the fight has been intense yet clean. Contrary to how Verstappen and Hamilton battled last year, where they were high chances of collisions.
Many believe that Verstappen was deliberately not being aggressive to Leclerc because they know each other’s race crafts since childhood. But Rosa disagrees.
After a pulsating double header to start the new season, F1 speeds onto the Australian GP this weekend as Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc renew their thrilling rivalry while Mercedes look for an upturn in form 👇
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 4, 2022
According to him, the two drivers didn’t have a knock at each other because Verstappen is content after his championship win. The Dutchman is driving like a champion and has nothing to prove after reching the pinaccle.
To disprove the above claim, the former HRT driver even recalls the two fighting in Austria 2019. During that race Verstappen was conspicously aggressive against the Monegasque.
“Do you remember when they fought in Austria? Those were the same drivers and then Verstappen was extremely aggressive towards Leclerc because he had nothing to lose and wanted to win per se,” Rosa said.
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