Max Verstappen: ‘Collisions with Hamilton difficult to explain’

Last year in Formula 1 we were treated to many great battles between Max Verstappen and his contemporaries Charles Leclerc and George Russell. There were several clashes with Leclerc that fortunately ended well for both drivers and were especially spectacular to watch. Lewis Hamilton met Verstappen less often, certainly compared to last year, but that went less smoothly. Where Verstappen and Leclerc gave each other enough space, things go wrong again in Brazil between Verstappen and Hamilton, for example.

Why is it that the reigning world champion and the former world champion seem to touch each other rather quickly? Verstappen himself does not understand it either, he explains Motorsport.com“I have to be careful what I say, but everyone fought aggressively last year and then we didn’t touch, but for some reason it’s a different story with Lewis. I don’t get it, maybe it’s a generational thing, that we (Verstappen and Leclerc, ed.) understand each other better and race nicer with each other.”

In any case, according to the 25-year-old, it is not the case that he races against Hamilton differently than against others: “I don’t feel that I am doing anything different with Lewis.” He again gives Brazil as an example, where he fought with Russell in the sprint race and, according to his own words, then did the same with Hamilton in the race. “I tried the same in the race, but it didn’t go well. I will always respect Lewis’s achievements in the sport, but that’s why I don’t understand why we can’t race together like I can with others.”