“Showing people that maybe doubted him”- Lewis Hamilton silencing his doubters says Daniel Ricciardo

 “Showing people that maybe doubted him”– Lewis Hamilton has silenced those who discredited him every time, claims Daniel Ricciardo.

Lewis Hamilton this year had the best start to his season in his career spanning more than 14 years, and he is looking like he will once again grab the world title.

However, several experts touted Red Bull to have the upper hand over Mercedes. To an extent, their prediction wasn’t wrong, as in the first two races, the Milton-Keynes based team looked dominant, and in every race till now, the contest has only been between Mercedes and Red Bull.

But the biggest differential in the contest is Hamilton, who has, with his experience, managed to outclass Max Verstappen in three different races, and Daniel Ricciardo thinks that Hamilton is shutting up his doubters with this.

“A lot of people are probably tipping their hat to Lewis,” said Ricciardo, speaking at the unveiling of the new Gulf livery that his McLaren team will run in next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.

“He’s getting it dished back at him and he’s holding his ground. And, I guess, showing people that maybe doubted him, why he is as good as he is.”

It takes experience

When asked to Ricciardo who will take away the contest, in the end, the Australian claims that in the end, the experience will win the battle while citing all the aspects.

“At this stage, you’d always, I guess, take experience. So if it was really down to the wire, then I think Lewis has showed some strong signs. But then again, if there’s a gap, Max goes for it. That’s why obviously I respect Max a lot.”

Ricciardo then talked about the mind games between the title competitors, “If it had been in qualifying, then he would have been able to see a different line that Max may be taking, or something like that,” said the Australian.

“So maybe that could be just a little bit of a comment to like, get some shout about nothing. Maybe it is a bit of a way to engage in some mind games. But, in saying that, you can learn a little bit. You do know if someone’s rattle when you’re the hunter.

“You can tell if, and I’m not saying this was that situation, but particularly pre F1, when you’re stalking someone, you can see when they’re starting to slide the car more, lock a brake, or drop a wheel here.

“We obviously can’t see them, but if you picture them without a helmet on, at that moment, their expressions would be tense. Perhaps he’s referring to that. And maybe Max was like erratic. I don’t know, but could just be something that’s nothing.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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