Rivalry ‘brilliant for F1’
THE intense rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is among the best in F1 history and is great for the sport in terms of helping to get people interested.
That’s the view of one pundit, ahead of the final two races of an enthralling season which has seen both drivers give their all.
Even after 20 Grand Prix, we are still no closer to finding out who will win the title.
As things are so tight, the temperature between them seems to have risen in recent weeks, while there have already been a few high-profile incidents and controversies involving the title-chasing pair.
Their domination of the season and heated battle has drawn comparisons to the rivalry between F1 legends Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Anthony Davidson is one of those who has made that comparison, and said he believes this battle is “brilliant for Formula 1”.
“For anyone who missed out on being too young in the Senna and Prost era, this is it. This is what you missed out on,” he said.
“It’s happening right again, history repeating itself.”
The Mercedes ace has the momentum, but Verstappen is still leading the fight and remains hopeful of seeing off the challenge from the seventime world champion.
“I would of course have liked to make it a bigger gap,” the Dutchman admitted.
“But when you don’t have the pace, it’s impossible to do that, so we’ll just try to be better, and come back strong, especially in Saudi on the street track, and then yeah, we’ll see in Abu Dhabi.”
And Hamilton says he is “loving” the fight.
“I love the close battle, and the pressure and the demands it puts on you and the whole team,” he said.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it but these next two races need even better performance. We’ll be bringing our triple-A game for those ones.” – Express Newspapers