The Dutch racer said that Rosberg had an easier time beating Hamilton than him since the two had the same car at the time.
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has been on an absolute tear in Formula 1 ever since he ended Sebastian Vettel’s four-year dominance in the sport in 2014. He has bagged seven world championships in his career so far and it is very likely that he will win his eighth at the end of the current season. The only driver who managed to beat him in this period of six years from 2014-2020 is Nico Rosberg in 2016. Currently, Hamilton faces his biggest challenger since that year in the form of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. A confident driver himself, Verstappen is well aware of that fact. When asked about it, the Dutch racer said that Rosberg had an easier time beating Hamilton than him since the two were Mercedes teammates at the time so they had the same car.
In an interview with Bild, Verstappen was asked if he took any lessons from the 2016 season in which Rosberg got the better of Hamilton. “Not really. They were in the same car, so it’s easier to beat your teammate,” he answered. “We have different cars, so it’s something different. I think you can only judge the real driver-performance for yourself if you are sitting next to someone in the same car (being team-mates),” he added.
It might seem like a very arrogant thing to say, but it certainly is not surprising coming from Verstappen. To be fair, he does make a good point. In the present, Verstappen has come closer than anyone to defeating Hamilton for the championship. He is currently just eight points behind the Brit and was a whopping 33 points ahead at one point in the season.
The two have developed a very intense rivalry over the years. Now, Red Bull are close to breaking the Mercedes dominance that has been in the sport since 2014. When asked whether the rivalry could be right up there with some of the greatest, Verstappen simply said that he was more focused on himself than the rivalry as such.
“For me, Senna vs Prost sounds best,” Verstappen said. “But seriously, I don’t think about it too much. I don’t really see this rivalry with Lewis Hamilton that way either. I just focus on myself and on the team. That’s when we have the best chance,” he added.
He was also asked about the heated rivalry that is currently going on between Mercedes and Red Bull. “They (Mercedes) have been very dominant in recent years. It’s nice that this year we have the opportunity to race at a higher level. That makes it not as boring in the championship as it has been in the last few years.”
Hamilton is currently the leader in the driver’s championship with a total of 195 points. For the first time since 2016, he is being followed very closely by Max Verstappen in second place with a total of 187 points. The race is also pretty tight when it comes to the constructor’s championship. Mercedes are currently on top with a total of 303 points in the summer break. But Red Bull in second place are just 12 points behind with 291. The 2021 season can very well go down to the final race at Abu Dhabi.
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