“I don’t really see the advantage there”– Max Verstappen on Lewis Hamilton having more experience than him in the title fight.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are amidst an intense battle for this year’s championship, and with the second half of the season is yet to go, a massive hype is looming around their title race.
Hamilton, who has the experience of winning the seven championships, would naturally be the favourite, but Verstappen doesn’t see this advantage and mentions some other points which, according to him, count as an edge.
“The only advantage you can really have I think is just if you have a faster car. In this sport, it’s so dominant when you have a good car. There are so many good drivers in this sport, but they don’t have the opportunity to fight at the front.”
“If you have seven titles or one, or zero… at the end of the day, when you have spent a few years in F1, especially more towards the front, like top five, you know that you have to try and finish every race,” he added.
“You know that you have to try and score the most available points every single weekend. I think all of us, we always try to do our best and race in the best possible way, so I don’t really see the advantage there [to Hamilton’s experience].”
Seeking better performance than last year
Verstappen is hoping for Red Bull being closer to Mercedes at Spa this weekend and progress from last year, where Mercedes had a comprehensive win over them.
“For sure, they [Mercedes] will be quick here [at Spa],” Verstappen added. “Traditionally, this track hasn’t been the best for us, because of the long straights. I know we definitely did close the gap a bit in terms of top speed, but we’re still not there.”
“I do think compared to last year, for sure our car is a lot better, our top speed is better. But how is it going to be against them? It’s a bit difficult to say.”
“Anyway, the weather doesn’t look great for the whole weekend. It’s going to be a bit rainy, then a bit dry, so we’ll have to wait and see.”
