Newly crowned 2-time world champion Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were involved in a fierce rivalry in the 2021 season which saw a controversial season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The duo collided multiple times ever since and have stirred up the media and fans with the ‘who’s to blame’ game.
With the Mercedes’ W13 turning out to be an uncompetitive car and Ferrari stepping up the ladder, Verstappen had the Scuderia’s Charles Leclerc as his rival in the 2022 season.
It has been pointed out multiple times that Verstappen’s racing style against Leclerc or any other driver is different from how it is against Hamilton.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, the Dutchman was asked if it would be correct to refer to his style as ‘uncompromising’, particularly with the 7-time world champion.
The Red Bull ace said that he has had aggressive battles with other drivers as well but somehow with Hamilton, it’s a different story.
Max Verstappen doesn’t understand why he crashes into Lewis Hamilton
Verstappen and Hamilton did not have many close battles in the 2022 season after Mercedes failed to develop a championship-winning car for the Briton.
But they did collide during the early stages of the 2022 Brazillian Grand Prix and Verstappen was held responsible for it and penalised.
The 25-year-old explained to motorsport that the collision was not his intention and he found being blamed unfairly.
“I don’t understand. Maybe It’s just a generation thing – that we understand each other better[other drivers], we are racing nicer to each other. I don’t get it,” Verstappen added.
Furthermore, he said that he doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything different to Hamilton.
Verstappen feels the need to be careful while talking about racing Hamilton
When the Dutchman was first presented with the question of his racing styles against the 37-year-old Mercedes star, Verstappen started his response by clarifying that he needs to be careful about what he is gonna say.
Further in the interview, the 2-time champion highlighted why he feels the need to do so.
Verstappen believes that in England the topic of him racing Hamilton can very easily be received as criticism and then he gets called out about it. People start to hate and he clarified that it is not his intention to be hated.
He added that he always respects Hamilton a lot for all that he has achieved but he doesn’t understand why he can’t race him like any other driver.
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