Coventry Telegraph

Red Bull’s Verstappen aims to halt Hamilton in Mexico

- Will Maisey

MAX Verstappen says he is ready to stop Lewis Hamilton sealing the world championsh­ip in style by beating him to victory at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who arrived south of the American border on Wednesday, needs to finish only seventh to be sure of his fifth title.

But the Briton, 70 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with only 75 remaining, will want to make up for his failure to win last weekend by taking the chequered flag tomorrow. Verstappen, 21, was victorious in Mexico last year, and the Red Bull driver, fresh from his impressive run from 18th to second in Austin, Texas, believes he has the car underneath him to triumph again.

“This is definitely the best chance for me to win out of the last three races,” he said.

“In qualifying, we may not have a chance, but in Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton the race we seem to be metres above sea level, working well, so I expect acts as an equaliser in this to better than Austin. engine performanc­e.

“But Lewis will want to Therefore, the Renault in win, so I don’t think that the back of Verstappen’s will change anything.” Red Bull, usually inferior to

The high altitude of the the might of Mercedes and Autodromo Hermanos Ferrari, is likely to be closer Rodriguez, which sits 2,200 this weekend.

“Performanc­e at altitude is more about mechanical grip, and our car is very good mechanical­ly,” Verstappen added.

“That is why we will be more competitiv­e on this track than others, even if there is a super-long straight. Physically, the high altitude is not a big deal.”

Hamilton clinched his fourth championsh­ip in Mexico last year, despite crossing the line only ninth after colliding with Vettel on the opening lap.

They play behind a front five, which includes autumninte­rnational-bound lock Dan Faleafa and former Carnegie hooker Phil Nilsen.

Former Saracens and Worcester tight head Bi Alo is in line to make his Cov debut from the bench.

Director of rugby Rowland Winter said: “Carnegie are a fantastic club who have a very good squad. They have plenty of experience and playing quality and I’m sure they’ll come to us in the final game before the break for the cup wanting to pick up a win.

“They have a new director of rugby and a handful of new players, including five new signings made over the last week or so.

“They’re probably the team to watch in the league as they are currently under-performing and I’m sure they will climb the table as the weeks progress, so we are expecting a tough test.”

 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom